Endless Blue
by xXFissshBonesssXx
Summary: The sky was blue, blue and endless ... Innocence, violence, life and death and Naruto. Pairings inside. Chapter 27 up. Read and Review!
1. Wanna play a game?

**CHAPTER1: Let's Play A Game** this is a Naruto Fanfic, and I borrow a few characters from the anime. So far, I don't have any OCs, but there might be the need for some later. Maybe not. I'm almost done editing these first chapters. Hope you review!

... it may look like it near the end, but this is **NOT** a '_Naruto-leaves-for-x-number-years-and-comes-back-changed_' fic!!!

* * *

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The sky was endless. It stretched up over his head, past the horizon and spread its blue body over the entire sky, seemingly to no end. The sky was blue, and wide, and huge, and the sky was beautiful. The jade-eyed boy looked up at this wonder, this endless blue, this abyss of beauty and endlessness, and was silent with wonder and amazement. He had seen this before during the day. He had watched it shift, slowly catching fire and screaming, burning, falling through thousands of shades of red until all that was left was a veil of ashes, black like the soot and dirt in the earth and dark as his eyes. He had watched the moon gleam through the seas of black at night, and he had seen the blue wash over the sky like crashing waves on a blackened beach in the morn, and he wondered at them. He wondered at the deep blue of the sky, the brilliant, innocent thing that seemed to stretch endlessly over his head, that seemed to go on and on and on forever without end. The sky was blue, and endless.

For a moment longer he stared, and then a voice broke the moment in two, one side a pensive calm and the other the trinkling of glass and reality.

"Gaara!"

He turned around, glaring with all the frustration he could muster, and tried to keep himself under control as the man walked up to him, looking down at him as if he were superior. "I called you several times. Why didn't you answer?" Gaara looked back up at the sky. It was so blue ... it was like the sea, stretching further than he could reach. He realized that the man expected an answer. The jade-eyed boy turned to the man and crossed his arms.

"I didn't _want_ to." The man twitched.

"Look, boy, kage's son or not, you're to answer to me from today on--I'm your instructor, you will address me as Baki-sensei."

Gaara snorted and turned away. "Whatever. What do you want?"

The man trembled at the lack of respect from the younger boy but could do nothing as sand in Gaara's gourd started swirling audibly. "I-I'm to inform you that we're leaving on an official trip to Konoha. It's to see the Hokage. You're to come and not cause trouble. Understood?" Gaara snorted. "Hn. Call me when you're ready." He turned around and stalked off, Baki cursing under his breath.

* * *

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Gaara sat on the edges of town. He looked out onto the desert before him and suddenly the sand blocked his view. The red-haired shinobi sighed and let the sand double in layers around him, the audible smacking of weapons in sand echoing in the cocoon that surrounded him. When the assault stopped, Gaara felt the sand seep away and reform, catching the assassin in its clutches and squeezing. There was a strangled cry from the other side of the wall and then it rained red.

"Oh my God--" There was a resounding slap as a girl smacked a boy carrying a large bundle of bandages.

"Sssh! He might hear you, Kankuro no baka!" The boy growled and rubbed his head.

"What the frick can he do, Tenmari-baba? He's six years old!" Gaara cocked his head to the side.

"Hello," he said softly. Tenmari and Kankuro whipped around and looked at Gaara, who was staring at them quietly as the bloody sand sept back into the gourd resting at his waist. The sand seemed to pause, surrounding Gaara's hand for a moment, and then disappeared back into the gourd. Gaara put the cork back in its place and looked up at his siblings. They never answered him. He turned away.

"Where's Baki?" There was a swirl of sand and said man was present. "All right, Tenmari, Kankuro, Gaara, we're going." They walked to the gates, a tense silence settling, and then screwing itself on as they shot off into the vast sands before them.

Before long, Baki noticed that Gaara was gone. He had them stop and he looked around. "Well? What happened?" Kankuro grumbled as Tenmari looked at the ground and Baki made a face. "Bah. Probably fell behind. We'll have to wait for him now." Kankuro mumbled to himself as he stared at the ground, "... probably waitin' ... end'n the desert 'lready ..." Baki looked at him sharply. "What's that? Kankuro, speak up and repeat yourself!" The bustling boy jumped and did as he was told out of instinct at the harsh voice.

"I said, 'He's probably waiting for us at the end of the desert,' Sir! That's all!"

Baki frowned. "But how?" Tenmari slugged her brother and resumed jumping over the dunes with Baki. "He's been trying out a new technique that he learned--somethin' 'bout the sand and just lettin' IT take him where he wants'ta go." Baki grimaced. "That demon ... shouldn't know ..."

Tenmari and Kankuro looked at each other and then decided that it was just grown-up talk. All grown-up talk was confusing. They contented themselves with keeping their sensei's pace as they made their way through the vast desert.

They found Gaara sitting at the edge of the sand where the trees began. He was staring at the sky again. Tenmari and Kankuro slowed down long before they could get in range of startling the seemingly-harmless six-year old, but weren't about to take chances. Baki felt them tremble and decided to assert his authority over the boy to show who was in charge. He walked up to the boy and stood in front of him, blocking out his view. Gaara blinked and then narrowed. Baki felt himself shudder inside but had to steel his muscles as Gaara's gaze became a glare. He went to open his mouth when the sand around them--not just the sand from the gourd--but the entire desert began to rumble, shifting as if in annoyance. Baki coughed and chanced an order--he had to; his authority over the three children was at stake, and he barked down at the red head. "Gaara! We need to get moving! Konoha is still a day's journey in the forest and we need to complete this mission quickly. I will not have you wasting my time while we have an important mission to finish! You will not sit here like a fool and waste time sitting here like a fool. We will to start mo--"

Sand slammed into his chest, rushing him against the nearest tree and filling his mouth and causing the man to block his eyes with panicking hands, a shrill scream snapping Gaara to his senses. Tenmari put her hand over her mouth as Gaara felt his control snap and he looked at the girl who trembled in her steps. Kankuro backed up.

"Oh sh-it, oh sheee-it--" Gaara looked at them for another moment, then turned to Baki and shot him a look. "Don't say that again." He walked forwards, giving his sister a rare tender glance, and Tenmari jogged after him, Kankuro in the rear, still wary of his younger brother. Baki took a few minutes to recover from the shock and pain and then got up to follow the group of children wandering into the forest.

* * *

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First, there was nothing. Then, there was Ichiraku, the ramen stand, and from there, all life flowed. At least, that was how a certain blonde shinobi from Konoha viewed it.

"Yay, yay, it's Mon-day!! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, but Monday's the best, cauz' ramen's half-off!!!" There was a laugh as the blonde plopped down on the seat at the renowned ramen stand, jumping up and down as the owner came over and looked him in the eye, his own sparkling with amusement.

"Hey, Naruto! What'll it be today--miso? chicken? spicy?" Naruto jumped up and down, waving a 500 ¥ piece in his hand. "All three! All three! All three for Konoha's number one ninja!!!"

The man gave a hoot and put the orders on. "You ain't a ninja yet, kid," he barked, his voice deep and gay as he tipped his hat, "just keep dreamin'!"

Naruto jumped up and down. "Just you wait, Jun-kun! I'll definitely become hokage get ramen every day, and I'll show ya!!!" Jun laughed as the first bowl finished cooking. He slid it over to his number one customer and grinned. "Well, you keep dreamin', kid! I doubt you'll become hokage, but you can go ahead and start that second goal right now! Eat up!" Naruto grinned as Jun passed him a complementary fountain drink and he popped it open, the carbon reaction causing bubbles to rise to the top of the can and coating Naruto's face with a beard of purple fizz. Jun took a look at Naruto's face and choked in laughter, doubling over as Naruto grinned at the kindly older man through the mess of purple bubbles. It was too hilarious and Jun laughed until Naruto finished all three bowls of ramen. The boy could really tuck it away, and he slammed the 500 ¥ on the table, rushing out of the shop.

Gaara watched the boy with bright blue eyes. Naruto blinked and spotted someone behind a corner. Gaara watched him go rushing towards a girl with pink hair and her friend with blonde hair. There was a high-pitched squeal and sequence of slaps and numerous cries, a jumbled mix of mock and actual pain that startled Gaara. Then there was silence, and the boy, still smiling but looking less bright than before, wandered back the way he'd come and stumbled off towards an undetermined destination. Gaara shrugged off the curious feelings that watching the boy his age made him feel as Baki walked up behind him.

"Let's go," he grunted and Gaara grudgingly nodded, allowing the older man to lead him and his elder siblings towards the tallest building.

They reached the building and a older teenager stopped them, an ANBU mask over half his head, a lazy eye looking down at all three with nonchalance. "Halt," he said in a monotone, "You cannot pass further without identification and verification. Please state your name and your business with the honorable Hokage-sama." Baki grunted the information the silver-haired teenager wanted and he nodded, opening the doors. Baki led the three children behind him and then was stopped again outside the hokage's office. The lazy teenager pointed at the three behind Baki. "Can't go in," he said, yawning behind his dark navy face mask, "they'll have to wait with someone. Oi, Gai!"

There was a poof of smoke as another boy in his late teens appeared, looking at the first boy with a thick, raised eyebrow. "Yes, Kakashi-kun? How may I assist you?" Kakashi shrugged.

"Go get Iruka and tell him I gotta quick job for him. And let the kid alone--he doesn't like you." Gai flushed and struck a pose.

"Aaah! My rival, this is another clever ploy to turn Iruka to your own uses! But I shall not fall victim to it again! By my eternal love, I swear, I will defeat you!" He posed again and was gone. Kakashi put a hand to his head before turning back to Baki.

"Sorry about him." Baki nodded. "You can come with me--Iruka will take care of these brats." Tenmari glowered. "We're not brats!" she shouted as Kakashi opened the doors, letting Baki pass by him as he gave her half a lazy look before shrugging and shutting the doors behind him. Gaara and Kankuro turned away from the door and looked at Tenmari, who they unanimously appointed leader for obvious reasons: one, Tenmari was a girl, and girls usually had a good sense of direction and could therefore get them out of the strange building, and two, there was a good chance that she would find ways to make them regret electing to do otherwise. Tenmari looked around and pointed the way they'd come. "Let's go this way first." They turned away from the double doors as a door on the side opened. Kankuro and Tenmari stopped, looking up at the older boy with surprise.

"Hey, who're you?"

The boy smiled brightly. "I'm Umino Iruka. Wanna come and play with me?" Tenmari's eyes lit up and Kankuro nodded, Gaara following the two curiously.

They were led into a room with targets, a few bowls of fruit, and magazines and a few other people; a girl with purple hair and white eyes, a boy with black eyes and a scowl, and one that Gaara recognized. It was _that_ boy--the one that he'd seen earlier. Tenmari settled right in with the white-eyed girl, chatting away as if someone had pressed the 'on' button on her mouth, and Kankuro sat in the corner playing with his marionettes. The boy with a scowl was looking at Gaara and then crossed his arms and huffed, muttering to himself. Something about an older brother, glitter, and death.

Naruto was looking at Iruka as the older gennin sighed and wandered off, calling someone's name as he left. The blonde crossed his arms and frowned. "I didn't do nuthin' wrong," he muttered to himself, "I was just havin' fun ..."

"What?" Naruto jumped as he noticed the red-haired boy next to him for the first time. "Wha ... I--who are you? Why don't you have eyebrows?"

Gaara cocked his head. "Why do _you_ have eyebrows?" Naruto thought about it and couldn't find an answer. "Huh. That's a weird question." He screwed up his face and the answer evaded his six-year-old brain, and he looked at Gaara seriously. "Well? Why do I have eyebrows?"

Gaara couldn't find an answer. Had it been anyone else, Gaara might have considered the question an insult and the sand might have squished them, but this boy didn't seem to notice the ominous presence of swirling sand. Gaara wondered silently how long it would last when he heard a voice.

"Uh, hello, I asked your name? You ok?"

Gaara blinked. "Sure."

Naruto waited, and Gaara looked at him blankly. Naruto asked him again. "What's ... your ... n-a-m-e," he asked slowly so that Gaara would understand. Gaara looked at him and blinked. "Gaara."

Naruto laughed. Gaara made a face. "What's funny?" Naruto's laughter turned to giggles and he snickered. "You're weird--you got makeup on your eyes!"

Gaara blinked in confusion, touching his eyes curiously. "I do?"

Naruto laughed a little more and poked the dark circles around his eyes. "It looks real pretty," he said, smiling brightly. Gaara thought about it. "Ok." He studied Naruto's face for a moment as Naruto sat back, looking around and sticking his tongue out at the black-haired boy who wore a scowl, receiving a glare in return.

"Your whiskers."

Naruto turned to face Gaara, his tongue half-out his mouth. "Meh? Mhut?" Gaara pointed to the six whisker marks on his face, tracing them with his fingers. "They're ... pretty, too." Naruto made a face.

"No one else thinks so." Gaara looked up. "Why not?" Naruto drew his knees up to his chest, bright blue eyes looking at the floor.

"Just 'cauz. Iruka-nii-chan tol' me it was cauz' a somethin' I ain't supposed to talk about, so I don' know. They just don' like'em." Gaara put his hand on Naruto's cheek, making sure that they were stationary, and then poked at them.

"I don' see what's wrong with 'em," said Gaara bluntly, "I think they're pretty." Naruto looked up and smiled, a happy flush rushing across his face.

"Thanks, Gaara!" Gaara felt the smallest of smiles creep to his face.

He was about to ask if Naruto wanted to play when the door opened and Baki appeared, glaring around. "Tenmari! Kankuro! Gaara! We're done here." Behind him was a teenager with long, black hair and dark black eyes. He was about fifteen, and the boy with a scowl smiled brightly when he came in, though the older boy didn't even spare him a glance before his gaze landed on Gaara and Naruto.

"So those are the demons," he muttered as Baki walked past the threshold of the room and grabbed the lingering Kankuro and Tenmari by the arms, dragging them to their feet and pushing them toward the door. Gaara looked at Naruto and then at Baki.

"I wanna stay here."

Baki stopped and glowered at Gaara. "You will get out now, Gaara. That's an order." Gaara looked up at him, unintimidated, and Baki felt his resolve begin to crumble as Gaara's sand began to shift, sand swirling angrily inside the gourd. Tenmari and Kankuro took the opportunity to rush past the towering figure of Baki and hide back in the room, meeting Iruka as he came back through the door he left, looking around.

"Sir? Is there a problem?" Baki growled and turned to leave. "I'll be back in ten minutes," he barked, startling Iruka, "and you're coming with me. Your father will hear of this." Then he was gone.

The boy that had been behind him came in and looked at the younger boy with raven-black hair. They talked for a minute and the older boy snorted and walked over to Naruto and Gaara, the younger hesitating but following grudgingly in his wake. As he sat down, Gaara felt something prickle on his neck and he instinctively took a step towards Naruto. The blonde scooted further from the new boy and closer to Gaara, eyes narrowed in suspicious fear. The boy looked down at them for a minute and then spoke.

"Don't look so scared. My name's Uchiha Itachi. You don't have to be afraid of me."

The younger boy grinned. "Yeah, you do. Itachi-nii can beat you up in a second, idiot." Naruto flushed.

"I'm not an idiot, sour-puss!"

The other boy glared. "That's Uchiha Sasuke to you, dim-wit!"

"Frown-face!"

"Big-mouth!"

"Scarecrow-head!"

"Scatter-brains!"

"Sushi-slave!"

"Ramen-freak!"

At this point, both boys jumped at each other and Itachi caught their collars in a practiced move, rolling his eyes and stopping them from colliding. Gaara hid a smirk. Itachi looked at both six-year olds and frowned. "Calm down, Sasuke, Naruto-kun. Sasuke," he spoke harshly down to his younger brother, ignoring or not seeing him flinch, "I was talking to Naruto and ..." Itachi looked to the redhead with a slightly risen eyebrow, silently inquiring a name. Naruto made an 'ah' of comprehension and smirked. "His name's Gaara! He's with that girl and that other guy," he pointed at each, "and that loud guy that came in was their sensei."

Gaara nodded. "His name's Baki," he muttered.

Naruto grinned. "Guess you don't like 'im, do ya?" Gaara shook his head.

Itachi cleared his throat and the three boys fell silent. "I wanted to talk to you two." He looked up at Iruka, who had been watching suspiciously, and called out across the room to him, "I think I hear Gai coming--" Suddenly, the gennin was nowhere to be seen. Naruto giggled and Sasuke smirked. Itachi rolled his eyes.

"Well, Gaara, Naruto, would you be interested in playing a game with me?" Naruto nodded seriously. Not many people had willingly invited him to play before that weren't ridiculed by scolding parents, so he was willing to do anything if Itachi wanted to play. Gaara didn't know what Itachi meant by 'play,' and Sasuke listened to make sure that he knew what was going on. "I want to play with some new friends of mine, and they told me I could only play with them if I brought some friends along with me. I told them that I'd do it, but my two other friends had an, ah, accident." Naruto frowned and nodded--accidents always happened right when you didn't need them. "I was wondering if you would be interested in going in their place?"

Naruto grinned. "Of course! I can go, I can go, I really wanna go!" His smile was so bright that Itachi almost felt guilty. Almost. Gaara opened his mouth to reply when the door banged open. Baki was back, looking a little less sour. "Tenmari, Kankuro, we're going to get a room here. Gaara, come along." Gaara glared at him in annoyance.

"Inna minute," he said. Baki looked at the other two, trying to look stern and hide the fact that Gaara was getting the better of him. The grip of the sand was terrifying, and reminded him of what it truly meant to be a shinobi--your life was always up for grabs. "Tenmari, Kankuro, we have to go. Come on." They got up, Tenmari waving to Hinata and Kankuro wrapping his dolls carefully away before grumpily following his older sister and instructor out the door. Gaara waited for them to leave before turning to Itachi.

"What's play?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. Sasuke rose an eyebrow. Itachi frowned. "It ..."

Gaara blinked bordely at him. "Is it like training?" Itachi's eyes widened a sliver but he recovered so quickly that Gaara and the other two missed it. "... yes. It's like recreational training," he said slowly, and Gaara simply nodded, the two larger words Itachi used familiar to his six-year-old ears. "Ok. I'll play."

Sasuke frowned and looked up at his older brother. "Demo, Itachi-nii, why can't I play? You never play with me."

Itachi looked at Sasuke. "I'll play with you later. Stay with Naruto and Gaara, I'm going to see Hokage-'sama' one more time ..." He got up and left. As soon as Itachi was out of ear shot, Sasuke glared at Naruto and shoved him as hard as he could off the seat. Gaara's eyes widened and Naruto yelped as he hit the floor, rolling over and jumping up to point at Sasuke.

"Hey! That wasn't nice! I was sittin' there and you pushed me off!" Sasuke glared at him. "I hate you--you're weaker 'n me and Itachi-nii still plays with you instead of me!" Naruto glowered. "So what? I really wanna play with you, too, but you always frown an' bein' mean. I know you're nice, but you never wanna play when anyone else comes around. I can't tell if you really like playin' with me cauz whenever someone else shows up, you push me and ..." He rubbed his arm, anger fueling him. "... daikari!"

Sasuke's eyes flashed with some emotion that he had no name for at the age of six and instead of trying to accept and understand it, he blotted it out with anger and hate; the only things he knew besides the loneliness when his brother wasn't around. He glowered at the blonde and shouted back. "I hate you more a thousand times!"

"I hate you a million times!"

"I hate you a billion times!"

"I hate you a hundred times!"

"A hundred's lessen' a thousand, idiot!"

"Scarecrow-head!"

"Ramen-freak!"

"Smarty-pants!"

"Brother-stealer!"

Naruto stopped, and Gaara's eyes widened at the crystal blue forming at the corner of Naruto's eyes.

"A-At least you g-got a brother!" He shouted, dashing away and out of the room.

Sasuke blinked and sat back down, looking at the floor. "... damn. I forgot again," he muttered to himself. Gaara looked at the open door, then at Sasuke, and then looked at the quiet little girl with white eyes. "Hey," he said, causing her to jump, "Tell those tall guys that we're leaving." Hinata blushed and nodded, mumbling to herself. Gaara shook his head and walked down the hall after Naruto.

Sasuke stared at the ground. Hinata blushed and looked up at him. "H-hey, I've seen you p-play with Naruto-kun before. W-why ... whydo you ha-hate him so much?"

Sasuke looked up at her, frowning. "I don't like him. He's weird and he's a baka-brain." Hinata cocked her head to the side. "Then why do you always play with him?" Sasuke didn't answer. Hinata continued, her stuttering momentarily leaving her as she stated simple facts. "You're always alone but then when you see Naruto-kun you go over to him and you play. You never talk, it's always just tag or sparing or hide and seek. You never fight. You always get along. I never seen him cry when you guys are like that."

Sasuke stared at her. "How-how do you know that?"

Hinata blushed and realized she'd been talking. She covered her mouth and Sasuke looked at the window. "Bah--you don't know the first thing about me. I never get along with that idiot."

Hinata looked up with an angry flush. "See? You're doin' it again! You're a great friend when you think no one's watchin', but the second anyone shows up, you gotta be mean and tough and real rude! It makes Naruto-kun real sad! I th-think that he r-really looks up t-to you." Sasuke blinked and actually turned to look at her.

"... Really? You think so?" Hinata blushed. "Aa--I-I-I, ano, well, I-I th-think h-he does!" She stuttered quickly, trying to look at her lap and not speak to fast or too slow and ended up spluttering the entire thing out in one short breath. Sasuke thought about it. "Huhn. I ... didn't think about that. Hm." He looked at the window.

'_That's ... pretty cool. I never thought about it like that. Naruto looks up to me? That dobe? He thinks of me like I think of Itachi-nii?'_ He frowned. '_Then ... then he knows just how I feel.'_ His six-year-old mind pieced together something and it horrified him.

"I treat him the same way Itachi-nii treats me," he muttered softly, and Hinata looked up. "What was that?" Sasuke jumped up. "Nothing! I gotta go find that idiot real quick!" He stopped and turned to Hinata as he dashed out of the room. "Tell my brother where I went, ok?" Hinata nodded dumbly, and looked out the window.

* * *

.

There was an endless number of places he should have looked first. There were obvious hiding places that he should've seen. Being Gaara, he instead followed his gut as he pictured Naruto running along the sloppy prints in the sand. The sand ended and the forest began, and Gaara looked behind him. There was a bunch of sand, then the concrete path of the village, and then the figures of the village moving about. Shouldn't someone have at least seen him and gone after the blonde? When he disappeared, everything stopped and everyone went looking for him, but this was a different village. They might be different. He turned around and walked into the forest, eyes searching for any sign of the blonde.

He slowed down, not knowing why, and stopped. He felt something to his left, and looked in surprise at the little orange figure huddled there.

"Naruto?"

Said blonde looked up, tears streaming down his face and bright blue eyes shattered like glass over a murky emotional fish bowl. Gaara flinched at the boy as Naruto choked on a sob and rubbed furiously at his face. "G-Gaara! H-hey ... what're'you doin' h-here?"

Gaara forced himself to ask the blonde boy the question that had been plaguing him since he'd lost sight of Naruto outside the tall hokage's building. "Why did you run? Did he hurt you?" Naruto shook his head vigorously, tears shaking off of his face in the process. "N-no! I-it-'s nothin' you g-g-gotta wuh-wuh-worry b-b'out ..." He choked and shuddered, suppressing the wracking sobs that he had bottled up so well.

Gaara walked up to him and thought hard. What did one do when there was someone else in pain? He thought hard. Once, he'd seen Baki kick Kankuro for getting hurt, but Kankuro had only gotten mad at the man and ran away. No, that wasn't right. He racked his mind for instances that paralleled to this. He had seen Yakamaru give Tenmari a hug and kiss her head, and Tenmari had smiled a little more than before. Gaara nodded. That's what he should do.

He poked Naruto until the blonde looked up. "What?!" Naruto blinked tears away in surprise as a pair of arms came around his neck, clumsily but gently wrapping around him. Naruto stopped breathing and then cried against Gaara's dark blue shirt, shaking and sobbing and breathing hard all at once. Gaara was so overwhelmed by the display of emotion that he gripped tighter, and the sand in his gourd rustled in confusion. He waited a while and Naruto calmed down.

Gaara figured that this was the time to do something, and so he tried to remember what else Yakamaru had done. She'd given Tenmari a hug and a kiss, which was involved your lips on someone else. Gaara shrugged and put his lips on Naruto's head, and then pulled off of the other boy to see what would happen. Naruto looked at Gaara with bright, blue eyes.

Blue. A pair of abysses of absolute blue, of endless blue ...

Gaara didn't know what happened next. The sand was covering him, and since Naruto was in his arms, it was covering Naruto, too. But something weird was in the sand--it was red and dark and evil-looking. Naruto yelped in surprise and hugged Gaara, burying his head in Gaara's shoulder. Gaara looked over Naruto's back and his eyes widened to see the red sprouting from just above Naruto's seat, his lower back letting out tiny red streams that sept and mixed into the sand. Gaara shut his eyes and felt the sand tense and something let out blood--Gaara knew it from the familiar smell that tainted the air. Naruto twitched in Gaara's arms. He murmured something that Gaara didn't catch. When the sand and redness dropped back, there was a dead man on the ground. Gaara and Naruto made faces.

"Another assassin."

They stopped to look at each other. "He was after you?" they asked simultaneously.

Naruto put a hand up before Gaara could get another word out and he shut his eyes, crossing his arms. "Ok! Hold on a second! I wanna ask you somethin'!" Gaara agreed and waited, ignoring the smell of blood to his immediate left. "Why'd you say 'another'? This guy was after me." Gaara made a face. "Why would he try an' kill you?" Naruto hugged his stomach, gaze cast to the ground.

"If I tell you ... you're gonna run away."

Gaara snorted. "Can't be as bad as me--my 'father' put a demon in me. My sand keeps the assassins out, though." Naruto blinked and grinned.

"No way! Cool, me too!" Gaara looked up. "Huh? I thought there was just one ..."

Naruto giggled like a girl. "Right! That's what all growed-ups say."

Gaara nodded sagely. "I don't wanna grow up."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Let's not do that," he said, frowning at the prospect, then smiling brightly, "you wanna play instead?" Gaara felt his lips tug upwards in a way they'd never gone before and nodded.

"Sure. Let's play."

The two boys walked off deeper into the forest.

* * *

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(A/N: This is **NOT** a '_Naruto-leaves-for-x-number-years-and-comes-back-changed_' fic!!! )

Morning broke over the Uchiha household. Itachi and Sasuke got up at nearly the same time, dressed and Itachi was forced to bring his brother to the market to shop for their mother. Sasuke took a detour while Itachi was busy with his weird friend from the water country, and ran to the small fountain he always found his friends at. There was a small group of people there, an older couple in their teens making out, and a really old man. He looked around, and didn't see him. There was the girl from yesterday, and he jogged over to her. She squealed as he addressed her. "Hey--"

"Eee! It's Sasuke-kun!" The girls giggled and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hey," he tried again, and this time the girl giggled and listened, "Have you seen Naruto?" The girl shrugged. "No. I bet he's off drawing all over the walls." The pink-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, he's always gettin' in trouble, but I think he's funny!" Her blonde friend looked at Sasuke. "But not as funny as Sasuke-kun!" The group of girls swooned and Sasuke walked away.

Before long, he found himself at Ichiraku and he slid into the ramen stand, listening for Naruto's usual breakfast-time clamor, but only the sound of boiling water and breaking chopsticks met his ears. The man behind the counter looked over at him and laughed. "You look like ya lost your mommy, kid. What can I do for you?" Sasuke looked up with a blank stare. "I'm looking for Naruto." Jun blinked and then smiled to himself. So Naruto had himself a friend his age. That was good.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno. I could ask you the same thing. He's usually my first customer every morning, but I haven't seen him. He seemed fine yesterday, but you might wanna check out his house. He has a habit of catching nasty flus at the most awkward times of the year. It's not even flu season for another month, but he came down with it just last week--poor little guy barely has an immune system, from what I can tell ..." He kept talking, his subject slowly slipping from Naruto to his own past, and he smiled to himself as Sasuke disappeared from the shop.

Sasuke approached Naruto's apartment cautiously. He knocked on the door and waited a minute. When there was no response, he called out the boy's name softly. "Naruto? You in there? It's almost 10:00--hello?" He pushed the door and to his surprise, it creaked open. Sliding his sandals off, he entered the house and looked around. The entire apartment was a mess knee-high from the doorway in, and Sasuke made a face. Jumping over a pile of socks and orange jumpsuits, he listened for any noise. The shower was off, and so was the faucet, and the toilet was quiet. There wasn't any heat in the house, so he wasn't cooking at home. With another quick glance, Sasuke decided that Naruto wasn't home at all. "That dobe must be out somewhere else. I guess he ate quick and then ran off without me." He tried to shrug it off, sliding his shoes back on as he locked the door to Naruto's apartment and walking off to the lake at the far end of the town. Naruto wasn't there, either. Frustrated and a little worried, Sasuke searched all the other places he knew of until he sat down on top of the academy building, and stared up at the faces carved into the mountain side.

* * *

.

Itachi found his brother staring at the hokage mountain. He was surprised to find his younger brother in such a pensive state, and snapped him out of it with a cough. Usually, it was Sasuke trying to get his elder brother's attention, but this time Itachi was trying to get his brother to go home. It had been three hours since they'd gotten to the market, and he had to get home in time to meet with Kakashi for practice. "Sasuke--"

"He's not here." Itachi blinked. "Who?"

Sasuke stared at the sky somewhat sadly. "Naruto. He's gone."

* * *

.

This is **NOT** a '_Naruto-leaves-for-x-number-years-and-comes-back-changed_' fic!!!

Chapter 1: Let's Play a Game. Yay! This didn't take long. Well, to write. It was friggin' long to edit this.. I hope I can get the others out on time. I'll have to work really hard, almost as hard as Bakudon, who's also got a nice fic out right now. (A New Dawn) It's a Spider-Man thing. She's a Doc Ock thing goin' on right now ... just like I have a Naruto thing going on. : I'll try to stay on topic, though. I wanted to say that I'll try to update pre-edited chapters, I've revised this chapter at least twice so far. Hope you're having good luck in school. That's where I'm updating from.

Updating might be slow because

I DO NOT HAVE INTERNET AT HOME. sucks, right? oh well. please pity me and review.


	2. Hide 'n seek

Chapter 2: Hide 'n Seek Thank you all who reivewed my first chapter! As you can tell, I'm a girl, and although the pairings will get a little intimatelater on, I think that boys might like this a little because of the action, even if the plot line is a little over-abused. Every story is unique, and I only plan to use the whole 'leaving-Konoha' thing as a buffer for the real ride. ; I'll try to update asap, but here's what I have so far for you!

**Warnings/Disclaimers**: light GaaNaru in the friendship stages. They're about 9 years old.

I'm moving a little fast because we have to get through some things coughchuuninexamscough

There's some KakaIta if you really wanna see it that way, but I like to think of it as the kind of friendship that Naruto and Sauske share.

I don't own Naruto.

I wish I owned the computer I'm updating on.

* * *

"Tag, you're it!"

A figure shot over the leaves and hid itself in the foilage._ /**He's on your left/--** _The figure shot to its right as a second person jumped on the branch where he'd been. Growling, the second figure leapt after the first, a sparkle in its eyes.

"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!" The second figure glared and shot after the boy, hot on his tail.

_'**He's cheating.'**_

"So'm I."

_'**I don't count.**'_ The second figure's eye twitched. "Yes, you **do** count." He returned his attention to the fleeing form and shouted at it.

"I can too catch you, Naruto!"

The blonde grinned and stuck his tongue out at the other boy. "I bettcha can't, Gaara!"

There was a loud bang as both boys rocketed over trees and used a burst of speed to fly forwards, each trying to see the other and at the same time trying to hide. Naruto flung himself into the air again and caught a tree branch, his finger sliding around it and vaulting away without shaking the tree. Gaara raced after him in a similarly smooth fashion, his movements making no noise save the electric glare that he was giving Naruto. The blonde grinned and shot into the tree tops, enjoying the sea of green as he leapt over the tree canopy. The forest was vast and he knew every leaf like the back of his hand. Gaara was catching up, and he swallowed, having spent too much time looking at the trees, he'd forgotten to find a place to land. He let out a laugh of relief as Gaara swung himself up and gave Naruto an extra push towards the nearest branch, and their chase continued as it was before.

After a few hours, they reached the biggest clearing and stopped. They were back at the heart of the forest. Naruto shut his eyes and Gaara did the same. Both moved their hands to form seals once, twice, four times, and there was a puff of smoke as the lake disappeared.

"Home sweet home," said Naruto as they gazed at the biggest complex of buildings in the world. One hundred feet of metal, a thousand pounds of wood, and a smart-alec with red hair who'd almost refused to help him, the giant building stood in the center of the forest protected by the highest level genjutsu they knew.

**/_You mean, that I know./_** Naruto nodded. "Right. You're the best, 'kaa-san." There was something like a rumble of approvement as both boys disappeared into the huge looming building.

Somewhere on the top floor, Naruto dove into the huge bath. Gaara made a face and took off his own clothes and put his gourd aside. "You owe me, I caught you." Naruto giggled and rolled over in the water. "Naw, I don't! You didn't catch me!"

Gaara sighed and tried Naruto's tactic: whining. "Naaaruto, pleeeease?" Naruto took a look at Gaara's calm, pasive face and tried to place the wine and frowned. "Uh, Gaara? No, please don't ever do that again."

Gaara nodded. "Right." Water splashed over Naruto in a wave, and he submerged himself as Gaara swam over to sit next to him. They looked at each other and then ducked under the water, swimming like fish. There was no one to tell them to get out of the huge bath, and there was no one to make them take an actual bath with soap. There were no grown-ups. _'**Eh-hem?**' _There were no HUMAN grown-ups. _/**Better.**/_ There was no one but Naruto and Gaara.

"Stop!" Scratch that.

Gaara and Naruto got up, walking over to a window with mild interest at the sudden shout. Bellow was a group of people in masks and a familiar boy with dark black eyes. Gaara threw a towel over himself and Naruto and they dried, dressing and shaking the water from their hair. Both boys looked at eachother, stepped up to the window sil, and leapt off it.

* * *

"I said, stop!"

Itachi looked at the six hunter nin behind him. '_Damn_,' he thought as they surrounded him, _'I wasn't planning on having to fight this many. I'll have to kill them all.'_ He had started running a long time ago. Sasuke was at the house, screaming, and his parents were dead. There had been a few words exchanged with Sasuke and the jounins and ANBU were immeditally dispersed after him. Itachi glared around the circle of masks and waited.

"Uchiha Itachi," started the man with a dog mask, "You're guilty of massacering your entire clan except your younger brother. You will come with us, and you will recieve the selected punishment from Hokage-sama."

Itachi looked around. "What the hell makes you think that I did it? Why would I kill my own parents?" A man in a cat-mask shrugged.

"We don't ask questions--we have a witness, and we are prepared to subdue you if you try to resist." Itachi shook with barely suppressed anger as the men began to draw various weapons, kunai, shuriken, a few scrolls and some dagger-like swords. He looked around and made a face.

"Ten on one is a bit unfair," he said softly, looking in the trees at the hidden four ANBU members. Kakashi winced from the trees. "... this isn't right," he muttered to himself, "ambushing him, more than five to one ..." The man in the dog mask shrugged.

"That is irreguardless. We are to bring you in, no matter what the costs, and we're prepared to send for more if you're more trouble than we can handle." Itachi let out a soft breath and shut his eyes. Kakashi knew immeditally what he was up to, making frantic hand signals to the rest of the ANBU. The message didn't get around quick enough for some as Itachi opened his eyes, and three men fell to the floor, gasping and twitching. The rest of the ANBU jumped away, and Itachi disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Kakashi cursed and shot into the fray, telling all he could not to look into Itachi's eyes. There was a harsh cry and the man in the dog mask fell to the ground, blood trickling from his slit throat. Itachi ducked, dodging the volley of shuriken aimed at his head, and sidestepped the volley aimed for his feet. He felt heat behind him and ducked the flaming kunai that whizzed past him and stuck to a tree. Itachi caught sight of the explosive tag just as it activated and an explosion rocked the entire place.

Itachi emerged unharmed, though, and he let four shuriken fly, pinning one man to the ground. He ducked under shuriken and disappeared before a second explosive tag could catch him off guard. There was a quick sweeping motion over him and he jerked as someone dropped in front of him and began a head-on assault with hand to hand combat. He ducked under the first sweeping kick and shifted around the wild punches, bumping against a tree. A fist shot out and slammed into the wood he'd replaced himself with and the ANBU was blown back by an explosion from within the wood. Itachi reappeared and Kakashi cursed.

"He hid an explosive tag in the wood," he grunted, tugging on his chest pouch and pulling out a scroll. He bit his finger and ran it along the scroll, the redness filling the air with a scent that called to the forces of the night; the scent of blood that drenched the air became thick as Kakashi summoned his tracking dogs. Itachi recgonized the rumbling in the dark earth and jumped from the ground, shooting shuriken and a shadow windmill shuriken at the silver-haired man. A dog leapt out of the earth, catching the three shuriken in its mouth, but was struck dead by the one hidden in the shadows of the others. Kakashi leapt from his hiding place and did several hand seals with lightning speed. Itachi's eyes widened in recgonition and he jumped away from his friend as Kakashi summoned the lightning blade to his palm, the electricity cutting through the air. Itachi stood still a few yards away from Kakashi, the five ANBU left signaling for backup, and frowned.

"I never thought ... I'd have to face you like this, Kakashi," he muttered, pushing back his bangs and taking out a scroll of his own. He nipped his thumb and painted it with his blood before summoning a palmful of his own crackling electricity.

"You know how this'll end," said Itachi softly.

Kakashi nodded grimly. "I know. Itachi ..." He loked across the dank field to his friend. His commrade. His throat got tight and he tried to reason with the protesting voice in the back of his mind. "Why ..."

The black-haired boy shook his head. "I didn't do it." Kakashi made an exasperated motion with his hands. "Then come back with me! Come prove them wrong, Itachi! Please! If you run now, they'll put a price on your head!" Itachi looked away. "I know. You know they wouldn't believe me even if I went." Kakashi flinched. "You could try." Itachi shook his head. "Sasuke will never forgive me."

"But you're innocent!" Itachi's eyes widened as he turned his Shiringan onto Kakashi's left eye.

"Innocence never lasts."

Kakashi stared at the black-haired Uchiha across from him, struck almost speechless at the growl. "Itachi ..."

"Now ..." Itachi whispered, and the silver-haired boy hid a look of regret as he pushed chakara into his arm and drew it back, pumping extra chakara into his hand and feet as he readied himself for a burst of speed had the slight chance of killing his best friend. Itachi shut his eyes, electricity dancing on his fingertips. "... come."

They became blurs and all of a sudden there was a muffled cry of surprise as something covered both men, smothering them and they disappeared. The ANBU nearby jumped out of their hiding places, exchanging hand signals.

(Where is the target?)

(check: 3, 6, 9, 12)

They turned to scan the forest, but not a sign of the two boys was left. The only clue they had was the pile of sand that lay where they'd stood.

The five remaining ANBU had three seconds to feel surprised as the sand leapt onto them and squeezed, blood splattering everywhere. There was a soft chuckle from the lake as Naruto and Gaara emerged, looking over the latter's handywork.

"You sure shut them up," said Naruto with a giggle, pushing Gaara to the side lightly. The red head shoved Naruto back and the two looked at the bloody mass with similar smiles of calmness. Then, they turned around and a wave of red deflected the shuriken flung from nowhere. Naruto looked at the shrubbery and pointed. "You're hiding behind that bush," he said, "I can see ya. Come on out and play with us!" Slowly, Kakashi came out of his hiding place and looked at both boys with surprise.

"It--I've seen you two before!" Naruto blinked and rubbed his head. _/**I know you've seen him before, kit,**/ _whispered a voice in Naruto's head.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "**I** don't remember you ..." The sand swirrled and grabbed Kakashi's legs and to his horror he found he couldn't even move his toes. Frantically, out of chakara and time slowly slipping, he tried to make the nine-year-old remember him.

"Please, wait! You do know me! I've seen you before! You were at Konoha with Iruka! You saw me!" His voice was rising steadily and he felt fear before this child with eyes of cold jade, no more than nine. Gaara's eyes narrowed again and the sand began to creep up Kakashi's calfs towards his waist. Kakashi felt the crushing pressure of the sand and cried out as it crept higher towards his arms and chest. There was a flash of black and something grasped his chest and gave a huge heave, and the sand released him, Gaara's eyes blinking in surprise at the new figure. Kakashi looked up at the other boy with a weak gaze of fear. "I-Itachi ... I--"

The last of Kakashi's strength failed him and the silver-haired boy collpased into Itachi's strong arms as he held his friend up. Itachi gently knelt down and pulled Kakashi's mask down over his face. Then, the black-haired teen stood up and glared at the two small boys, the blonde snickering at his antics and the red head glaring back. Recginition flashed on Itachi's face for the shortest time and this time, both Gaara and Naruto saw it and returned it. "So, here we meet again," he muttered to himself as he drew away from Kakashi's softly breathing body.

"Hello," called Naruto cheerfully, "wanna play with us?"

* * *

"So you're saying that you've really been alone in the wild all this time?" Naruto nodded, slurping a mouthfull of ramen up and splattering himself with soup and spoke.

"Yeah. I remember everything that happened, or really, kaa-san does." Itachi stopped him. "Who's that?" Naruto slurped down another noodle and pointed to his stomach as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Duh--who do you think?" Itachi fell silent, not sure whether to feel sorry for Naruto or to be jealous of his innocence. Naruto didn't catch his look and continued. "Like I said, kaa-san remembers everything! She knew who ya were in a minute. She remembered you from a long time ago, when we were real small."

_/**Yer still small, kiddo**,/_ whispered the voice in his head.

/_Hey_,/ the blonde shot back, _/I'm tellin' a story here./ _

"After Gaara an' me went to go play, we sorta lost track of time. Before we knew it, it was real dark and we got lost, so we decided to stay outside and sleep under the stars. It was real cool and bright outside, and I almost didn't sleep! Gaara stayed awake to make sure that the bad guys wouldn't come back." Itachi interrupted him again.

"Bad guys? Who do you mean?" Naruto shrugged. "Just some weird guy in a real big cape. Said he wanted us to join a club--kami-suki ... no, s'not it ... uh, maka-suki, amasuki--"

"The Akatsuki," said Gaara shortly, "that's what it was." Itachi's eyes widened. "What did he do? Who was he? What did he look like? Where is he now?" Naruto jumped at all the questions that were aimed at him at once and stumbled over the answers.

"Uh, he was tall an' real pale and had a funny sword thingy--He didn't say his name--uh, he tried to, uh, ah ..." The order of the questions had confused Naruto and Gaara filled in what he'd missed.

"... he tried to get us to follow him but we didn't and then he tried to hurt us and Naruto turned him into fox food." Both boys grinned at each other. "It was cool," they said in unison, and Itachi shuddered at the image of blood-covered nine year old demons smirking up at him.

"I kicked him and then somethin' red came outta my hands and sorta--"

"I broke his sword," pipped up Gaara, "with the sand."

Itachi nodded, fascinated as Gaara waved his hand and the sand jumped up, swirrling around it like a living thing. It made eyes at Itachi and then sept back into the form of a gourd on his back. The two boys shot back and forth between sentences about their encounter with who Itachi was sure had been Kisame.

"And then I kicked him in the back--"

"... took the sand and wrapped it on his arms--"

"pow! Right in the face! He never saw it com--"

"... and his neck, and then Naruto did the thing--"

"--with these real cool claws and it was real red and--"

"--and then he ran away," said Gaara with something like disappointment, "and we let him go cauz' he looked tired."

Itachi marvled at the two boys in front of him. Clearly, Kisame had been ordered to persuade the demon boys onto their side, and had failed miserably. Itachi knew that the Akatsuki rewarded its members well and they could help him gain the kind of power that he needed to achieve, and a good first step would be getting Naruto and Gaara to join. He wondered what approach he would use--they seemed still mentally five and six, and Naruto seemed to be able to communicate with the demon sealed inside of him, refering to it as his 'mother.' Itachi took a breath and pushed his bangs back, looking at the two boys. Gaara's eyes were bored and cold, Naruto's bright blue and full with the brightness of the skies. Itachi wondered how his own eyes looked.

"... are you two still interested in playing a game with me?" Naruto blinked and nodded, shouting happily. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, a game!" Gaara looked over at Itachi. "How do we play?" Itachi thought about it.

"... I'm not sure. We'll have to go and ask my friends for the rules. Do you want to come and visit them with me? It'll only take a second." He knew he was taking a risk here. Naruto and Gaara could come with him and refuse to join or struggle and cause more damage than they were worth, and he might upset the members of the Akatsuki. Itachi weighed his chances carefully, knowing that his life might depend on it. For a moment, the two boys sat and thought, looking back and forth between each other, a private conversation going on in each boy's mind.

_/**Don't go.**/ _

_/Why not?/ _

_/**... it's not the kind of game you'd like.**/ _

_/But how will you know if I never try? You don't always know what I like.../ _

_/**Don't go. For me. I don't want to play this game, Naruto. It's not the kind of game I want you playing.**/ _

'_**Don't go.**' _

'_... why?' _

'_**There's something about this boy. You will not go.**' _

'_... what if Naruto goes? Then I gotta go.' _

'_**He won't go. Kyuubi isn't dumb--Naruto won't go. You won't go either. Tell the boy.**' _

"I don't wanna."

Itachi looked at the two boys who'd spoken simotaniously. "Why not?" Naruto looked at the ground.

"I just wanna stay here and play by myself and Gaara. Everyone else'll think I'm weird and ... weak," he murmured, looking at his feet. Gaara looked up to Itachi. "We'll play with you later. We want to stay here for some more time." Itachi frowned.

"Don't you ever get lonley?" Naruto looked at Gaara.

"Why would I be lonley? I have everyone who loves me right here--Kyuu-chan and Gaara-chan." Gaara blinked and nodded dumbly at the blunt statement, acknowledging it as a fact. Itachi wondered at the small boys.

"How do you eat?"

"Easy--kaa-san can tell what kinda foods are good for us." Itachi tried to think of another question.

"Where do you sleep?"

"In the trees and the grasss," said Gaara softly.

"Doesn't anyone find you?"

"We use illusions to hide," said Naruto proudly, "and we blend in natural. See?"

Itachi blinked and jumped as Naruto and Gaara suddenly became very hard to find simply standing in front of the forrestry. Like chameleons, both boys had backed up against the foilage and some kind of weird chakara crept over them, concealing most of their presence. Itachi had to admit to himself--it was a sweet technique. "Come back out; I can't see you," called Itachi and the two boys stepped back into view, pleased in their own ways that Itachi was fooled by their disguises.

"Are you gonna leave, Itachi-nii?" Itachi looked back at the younger boy. "I can't really stay here," he said, standing up and putting his chopsticks down, "I have to go and find some of my friends. I told them I'd meet up with them, and some people from Konoha are going to come and try to find me. Don't worry," he said at Naruto's sudden look of disapproval, "I won't let them catch me like that again."

He turned to cast a final look at the still form of the silver-haired man before turning away from him and the boys both.

"Good bye," he said, disappearing in a swirl of leaves and smoke.

* * *

There was a moment when Kakashi knew that he was being picked up and he fought to regain consciousness, his eyes snapping open and he jerked out of the person's grasp. The stunned jounin let him drop but caught him again as he fell limply to the ground.

"You used your chidori, didn't you," observed Gai as he hefted the silver-haired man onto his back. Kakashi nodded weakly and groaned, shuddering and letting Gai fully support his weight. "I told you not to over use that technique! It is dangerous and horribly lacking in tact!"

Kakashi snorted. "Who're you to be lecturing me on tact, Gai?" he cracked as the jounin carried him through Konoha's forest back to the village gates.

"Hey," protested Gai as he carried his friend through the woods and towards the direction he'd come from, "who's carrying who now? If it weren't for me, you'd be riding on Asuma's shoulders."

Kakashi made a face. "No I wouldn't --I'd be on the ground, dead from inhaling all his second hand smoke. He's gonna die before he gets a dangerous mission," said the silver-haired teen weakly as Gai slowed down, the gates becoming visible at the distance they came from and Gai made a face.

"Usually, I would defend Asuma-kun against your outrageous remarks, but I must agree with you on one thing, my rival--he should cut back smoking! It is horrible for his youth!" Kakashi wondered why he ever talked to this weird guy in the first place, and was all too thankful as Iruka rushed out from the village to meet them with medical nins. Gai let them gather the silver-haired jounin onto a stretcher and Kakashi shot Iruka a 'thank-you-sooooo-much' look as Gai struck a pose and waved fare-well enthuastically to his rival as the medical nins dragged him off to the hospital. Iruka watched him go and walked back towards the village with Gai.

"Hey," whispered Iruka once they were inside the gates, "is ... is he ok?" Gai blinked and then nodded. "Of course--he is my rival, and a man of many skills! He will recover and will live to challenge me again!" Iruka sweatdropped and waited until he calmed down and had walked a bit further to ask another question.

"Wha ... what was wrong with him? What kind of mission did he go off on so suddenly, Gai-kun?" Gai looked at Iruka sharply and stopped walking. "I suppose you have a right to know, Iruka-chan, but first we must move to a less open location." Iruka blanched at the name and flushed, agreeing reluctantly and let Gai lead him to the hospital. They found Kakashi's room and snuck past the guards, sitting in the chairs across from his bed. Iruka looked over Kakashi quickly. His hiatae was still pulled over his left eye and his face mask was still in place. Iruka sighed in relief and thought to himself, '_same old Kakashi-san ...'_

"All right," whispered Iruka, "now tell me. What kind of mission did he go on? Why is he hurt?" Gai frowned and shut his eyes in concentration.

"I know only what I'll tell you, Iruka-chan. Kakashi recieved a call from Hokage-sama a few hours ago because the Uchiha clan, save one boy, had been murdered." Iruka gasped and put a hand over his mouth. Gai nodded gravely. "For that, Kakashi was called and ordered to stop the murderer. He persued the target, and from there, I cannot tell you what passed." Gai nodded to himself and looked at the sky, and Iruka sweatdropped as from no where, the wind blew behind him and made his hair move.

'_He is ... sooooo weird_,' Iruka thought as Gai sat back down, nodding as if he was congradulating himself. "Yes, that is all I know. I did, however, manage to get the name of the murder. It was Itachi." Iruka gasped again. "No!" Gai looked at him.

"You were friends with Itachi, weren't you?"

Iruka looked at the ground. "Well, I know Kakashi-san was really good friends with him ... and he sort of introduced me. I don't--Itachi doesn't seem like the kind of person to do that! Not at all!" He looked at Kakashi, and whispered quietly, "t-they didn't fight, right? H-he's--he is-is going to ... is he gonna be ..." Gai blinked in surprise at Iruka's tone of voice and tried to cheer the depressed gennin.

"Of course he will be all right! Iruka-chan, my fairest, you have nothing to fear! He will recover and that will be proof that he is worthy of being my rival!"

Iruka blinked as Gai struck his 'good-guy' pose and he snickered, covering his mouth. Gai grinned at him.

"See? You're fine. Don't work yourself up over this guy--I'm a much more worthy man!" He posed again, and Iruka giggled more. Gai felt silly, but Iruka was laughing and it made him feel much better.

"Oi! Stop hittin' on 'ruka," muttered a weak voice from the bed. Iruka jumped, coloring in surprise and rushing to the bed. Kakashi blinked a lazy eye open and Iruka laughed. "Y-you're ok!"

Kakashi rolled his visible eye. "You doubted me?"

Iruka colored and frowned. "N-No, I was just ... I-I, uh, well, I'm just really glad you're better!" Kakashi shook his head, lifting his spiky hair out of his face, and looked up at the gennin. Iruka blinked down at his intense stare.

"Iruka ..."

The gennin blushed and Kakashi motioned to the table beside his bed.

"... there's 5.65 ¥ in there. The next volume of IchaIcha Paradise is coming out today. Could you--"

**SLAP**.

Gai sweatdropped as the flushing gennin stormed out of the room, a hand print on Kakashi's face and a wallet in his hands. Kakashi gave Gai a silly look and fainted again.

Gai made some innane comment about seagulls and left Kakashi to be fainted alone.

* * *

Sorry about ending on that note, but we'll see more of Itachi in the next chapter and of course, more of Naruto and Gaara. Sasuke and Konoha will come back somewhere around chapter four but hang on 'till then. :) In the meantime, I'm very happy with my reviews. I want to get all my reviewers gifts but i have no idea who you are so the best thing I can offer is my udying gratitude and thanky-full-ness! author cheers for self and raises cup of eggnog

Eggnog by the gallon, eggnog by the cup, tasts the same going down as it does coming up. End quote.


	3. Akatsuki

**CHAPTER:3**Naruto and Gaara at Grass country when Itachi meets up with them again. They're 12, he's 19. He asks if they'd join the Akastuki. Both shrug agree. Takes them to leader and they're offered cloaks. Both are assigned to assasinate someone at the next chuunin exams in Konoha. Both accept. They set off, and Itachi assigned to observe them behind their backs.

This chapter, Naruto and Gaara agree to play Itachi's 'game' and I'm almost to the beginningof the real story...

* * *

.

It was a peaceful day in the Grass country. Tall houses and colloms of steam rose into the bright, blue sky, clear of any clouds except the ones that rose as collums of smoke from the busniess buildings. True to its name, fields of long and wavy grass surrounded the village and long shoots of bamboo bloomed inside its walls just before the village itself. Today was peaceful, no need for violence what so ever. Any violence would simply ruin the day.

Which was why Itachi felt out of place as he walked along the crowded streets.

He was on a mission at the moment, and his target had slipped from his grasp. He wondered if he would be punished for taking this long to persue a single target. The nineteen year old grumbled boredly to himself and decided to wait till the night when the streets were less crowded. He looked around and found a bar. Slipping inside, he chose the darkest corner, sliding into the shadows and blending in against the wall. He sat and listened. There were so many drunks here that he wondered if it would thin out or double during the night. Eventually, the sky grew dark, and the men started to leave. Itachi concluded that in Grass it was either bad to be drunk or that dark was just taboo. Whatever the case was, he slid his glass away and left, the bartender watching his back without the drunken gaze of his customers. The darkness here was everywhere. Itachi activated his Shiringan for a fleeting moment and deactivated them. They were no help in this kind of darkness. He shut his eyes and walked on. The sounds of the night guided him where they would have frightened anyone else to death; the whisper of the wind told him that there was an over turned garbage pale to his left, the soft creaking of an old wooden plank told him to keep to his right, and the unmistakable scent of grass told him that straight ahead there was a large field. He drew himself up and disappeared, reappearing on the edge of the field.

Suddenly he ducked as a kunai flew over his head from the left side. He activated his shiringan in time to see the chakara-filled shuriken headed across the field at an invisible target, and then disapear.

Someone was fighting.

He ducked among the long grass, blending in silently and waiting it out. There were a few close encounters when he wasn't sure whether it was bad aim or if they knew he was hiding, watching. Then there was a short grunt and Itachi heard the unmistakable pounding of fists and slashing of some type, possibly from some sort of blade. '_Someone is dead'_, he thought as he stood up, the thick scent of blood filling the night. He disappeared to the middle of the field and fingered a kunai under his cloak. There was a figure standing in the middle of the field covered in blood, wearing fishnets, a black vest and a red scarf. His hair was flame-red and it was cut short and jagged, and his hands were still clenched in fists. He turned to face the new person and Itachi's eyes widened a fraction.

Gaara blinked in surprise and then turned away, silently dismissing the discovered man as unimportant. Itachi felt the sting of being degraded in such a way and flung a silent kunai at Gaara's back. Something snapped up from the ground and it shattered against the red of a tail.

Itachi's eyes widened as a figure drew itself up from the ground, red chakara swirling around its wounds and sweing the muscle and tissue back together with practiced ease. The soft red faded from the person's eyes and bright blue blinked back at him.

"Itachi--we just keep runnin' into you!"

Naruto laughed at Itachi's face almost-stunned expression. "I thought you smelled familiar. You shouldn't sneak around in the dark like that, we could have easily turned our attacks on you and then you'd be dead and we wouldn't have a friend!" Itachi snorted, wondering silently what the red tail had been and why it looked like pure chakara. "You couldn't have hurt me with a simple attack." Naruto laughed again and leaned on Gaara's shoulder. "What do you think we've been doing, sleeping this whole time?"

Itachi frowned. "So you trained--but how?" Gaara rolled his eyes and Naruto snickered. "You have a real bad memory for someone your age," he snickered as Itachi frowned at them, "you forget already that we have demons in us?" Itachi's eyes narrowed. "That doesn't mean--" He stopped and bit his tongue. '_Wait. Last time, Naruto ... refered to the Kyuubi as 'mother.' That means--_'

"--you can talk to them." Naruto nodded.

"Sure! It's like talking to a person, only they have a real sadistic sense of humor."

'_You mean the demons, right?_'

/_Of course. You don't got a sense of humor._/

Gaara punched Naruto and Itachi made a face. "Do you randomly attack each other around normal people?" Naruto rubbed his arm.

"Nah, I just made fun'a Gaara-chan. Wasn't nothin bad, just his non-existent sense of humor--" Gaara slugged him again. Naruto held his shoulder and shut up, grinning. The twelve-year olds looked so relaxed with each other that Itachi almost forgot about his mission. Instead, an idea popped into his head, one that he'd tried before, and so he was risking it failing again, but he had to try ...

"Did you two still want to play a game with me? Because my friends are still waiting for enough people to play." Gaara and Naruto looked at Itachi. "... maybe," they said in unison, and fell silent for a moment.

_/**You should go.**/ _

_/You told us not to go last time, and then you started having us play lots more with you two. Why do you want us to go now?/_

_/**Because now you're ready to play the game, kiddo.**/_

_So you didn't want us to go last time because we weren't ready. Physically or mentally?_

_**Both. You weren't trained nearly enough. You'll need all your skills and more for this kinda game, boys.**_

_/This must be a real good game if you had to teach us whatchadid .../_

_/**Enough! Just accept the offer. Let's play ...**/_

Naruto and Gaara looked at each other and then at Itachi who was waiting.

"Ok. We'll play." Itachi felt something jump in his chest, whether from surprise or relief he wasn't sure but he steeled himself calm with a practiced ease of mind.

"Good. I'll take you to them tomorrow. Meet me here."

The two boys nodded and disappeared, but that wasn't what unnerved him--they'd gone without a swirl of leaves or poof of smoke of sound at all for that matter. They smiply flickered away like a light going off. Itachi made a face and punched the ground; he still wasn't strong enough. Jealously, he cursed as he flitted away to find shelter from the expanding darkness.

* * *

.

The morning was clear and crisp, the scent of waffles and udon floating through the air from the village. Itachi stood on the field and looked out over the small houses and wondered if they had lied to him or not. '_I'm being too hasty_,' he thought, steeling his muscles and suppressing a yawn, '_I am here rather early. They're probably just waking--_'

"--heads up!"

Itachi looked up in time to move as Naruto crashed down where he had once stood, leaving dents in the earth. Sand swept into the holes as Naruto stepped out and grinned widely at Itachi. "Didya miss us?" Itachi's eye twitched. '_You narrowly missed me.'_ "Where's Gaara?" The other boy appeared behind Naruto in the same fashion they'd left last night--like a flash going on and off, he suddenly flickered to life next to Naruto and put an arm on his shoulder. "Are you ready?"

Naruto grinned at him. "Yeah!" Itachi nodded and he shot off to the edges of the village. Gaara and Naruto hopped along the roof tops, going at leisurely speeds for them and Itachi so that they all made it to the gates with minimal effort. They vaulted over the gates and slipped through the grass without sound. Itachi led them, weaving back and forth, changing his path and feeling more and more confident of their abilities as they coppied his movements, keeping track of his every move.

They traveled in this fashion until midday when Itachi stopped, looking at the two behind him. Where he had expected panting children stood two bored pre-teens, looking at him in surprise.

"Are you tired already?" asked Gaara curiously. Itachi shook his head in wonder.

"I forgot ... We'll travel until you want to stop," he muttered as they took off once again.

Itachi led them through most of the grass country and started into the sound territory when Gaara told them to stop. They paused a moment for Gaara and Naruto to eat some cup ramen, though Itachi wondered where they'd gotten it from. He did feel better, knowing that they did still need to stop and recupperate once in a while. It felt good to know he was stronger than the two demons in means of stamina. After their meal they burned the chopstics and cup until the ashes blew into the wind and disappeared and they set off again, Itachi only a half-step ahead of the other two. They passed through sound, rain and some of leaf before finally arriving at the cloud, and they scaled what appeared to be a huge mountain as Itachi ordered them to. Once at the top, they stopped and Itachi told them to move one of the large boulders to get into a cave.

/**_Hey_,**/ cautioned a voice as Naruto rolled back his sleeves, /_**don't try to move it. Do exactly as I tell you ...**/_

Naruto frowned and, channeling chakara into one point, poked the rock with his finger, and something shuddered before the rock dissolved, the genjutsu cancled. Itachi's eye twitched and he wondered how Naruto could have told that it was genjutsu. Naruto looked at Itachi as Gaara walked over to his side.

"What now?" Itachi shrugged. "We go in."

They walked into the fortress, the cave walls slowly expanding as they walked, the genjutsu on the enterence reappearing as they stepped past the threshold. Naruto blinked, his sight failing in the dim light, and his eyes filled with a soft red glow. He stopped stumbling around and walked straight on like Itachi and Gaara. Itachi wondered at this but didn't have time to express his question as they reached the first guard. Itachi waved to him and the man moved aside. They continued on and walked for a few minutes before they came to a split in the tunnel. Itachi didn't even pause as he took the left. Gaara and Naruto followed him, watching his every move as they pushed on. They met another man along the way and Itachi waved him down, too. Gaara looked at the man and he gave Gaara a nod. Gaara nodded back, not sure what else to do. The three figures saw light ahead and narrowed their eyes as they emerged in a room lit by torches.

"I've returned."

There was a soft chuckle as a tall, muscular man stepped out of the open doorway to their direct right, no headband and a black cloak billowing around him, short brown locks making his dark green eyes stand out. "I see. And you've brought two friends with you. Are they presents to Ryusho for being late?" Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"They're here to join, Makita. Keep your thoughts to yourself while I'm around." The man gave an unsteady glare and turned away, disappearing back the way he came. A figure in black appeared on their left as they advanced, this man with shoulder-length green hair. "Itachi! You brought company. Are they for me?" Itachi shook his head. "No, Ryusho; they want to become members." Ryusho looked surprised and then turned to look sideways at them. "And they're willing?"

"Of course we are," said Naruto, crossing his arms, "and we ain't deaf, either."

Itachi and Ryusho looked surprised at the abrupt statement and then turned to face the middle of the room. "I'll get Akuma and Soujiro. You can inform him." Leaving 'him' unclear to Gaara and Naruto, the two disappeared down seperate hallways and Gaara looked at Naruto.

"You know this could be a trap, don't you." It was more a statement than anything and Naruto giggled. "Duh. That's why I came; I want to know if it was a trap."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "You take this so seriously," he muttered, sarcasm heavy in undertones. Naruto nodded.

"Why should I be worried about these guys?" he asked as Makita walked back into the room, "They're all weak."

The taller man stopped and glared at the two boys. "Hm? You want to prove that?" Gaara looked at him. "Don't challenge us," he said quietly, "we're here to play, not to eat." Makita made a face, pulling out a long, thin sword. "You wanna say that to my--"

"Makita, stand down." The silky smooth voice of an unseen man stopped Makita in his tracks and he hid the weapon he'd pulled out instantally.

"G-gomen nasai, I was out of place." The voice continued. "Yes, you were. Don't harass our newest members like that. You know how precious new members are to us." There was a short rumble and a ledge extended. A man with silvery hair looked over the edge. "Itachi tells me that you two wish to join our ... game," he said, sliding Itachi a look through his soft amber eyes, "is this correct?"

Naruto and Gaara nodded simotaniously. "So how do we play?" The man smiled slyly.

"First, you get a bracelet. Everyone in the game needs a bracelet." He tossed the rings down to Naruto and Gaara, and they looked at the bands, snapping them onto their wrists.

"Then, you get a month for ... rules." Naruto blinked.

"This must be a very complicated game," he muttered as the man continued.

"You will also recieve a mission." He stopped and looked down at the boys who stared back up at him blankly. Irritatidly, he looked at Itachi. "You didn't tell them about missions, did you." Itachi blinked. "I forgot they hadn't grown in villages." The amber-eyed man turned back to the two boys. "Do you know what an assisination is?" Both boys nodded at the word. The amber-eyed man looked less irked with this knowledge. "Fine. Then you will play the part of assasians." Gaara and Naruto shrugged. "Ok. So we kill someone. Who's the person?" The man laughed softly at their manner towards killing another person. Ryusho and Makita, who were present in a corner of the room, shuddered at the hollow sound that echoed through the cavern-like room. "We'll tell you when it's time. First, Itachi and Ryusho will test your strenghts. Makita will figure out what you know about weapons, and only after that will you recieve leave for your first mission." Naruto nodded, letting the information slide across to the Kyuubi.

/_**Sounds to me like they're testing you,**/_ growled a voice in the back of Naruto's mind. Naruto flashed the man a grin.

"Ok, where do we start?"

* * *

.

Itachi glanced longways at Naruto and Gaara. The two were leaning against the wall, eyes shut and heads bowed. Both had been dismissed and Ryusho had promptly dragged the two demons into a room, and they had sat against the wall and hadn't gotten up since. Ryusho looked at Itachi in wonder.

"We've only been 'ere a few minutes; I think they're sleepin'," he said in soft disbelief, looking at their light breathing patterns. Itachi made a face. "I was once informed that Gaara couldn't sleep." Ryusho looked at Itachi with a raised eyebrow. " 'Gaara' ?" Itachi nodded. "Hiis name, Ryusho." The green-haired man gave an 'ah' of comprehension and gave Itachi a grin, putting a friendly arm around his neck. "Tha's right. I remember now!" Itachi pushed the other man off his shoulder, causing him to fall on the ground. The noise made Naruto raise his head and his eyes flickered open.

"Eh? What's what?" Gaara's eyes cracked open and he blinked, readjusting to the new light of the room. "Hn. Let's go."

Naruto nodded and stood up, stretching and yawning. The two turned to Itachi and Ryusho as the latter stood and dusted himself off, looking at the them with a stern glance.

"All right, play time's over," he said, his voice taking on a serious undertone, "I'll be up first. I'm gonna test yer knowledge of fightin' skills, and Itachi will work with ya tomorrow strictly on genjutsu. We'll have Sojirou work on jutsus with the both of ya, and then Makita can take 'is turn." The man moved his neck from one side to the other and then held his hand out.

"All righ--come at me one atta time." Gaara and Naruto looked at each other.

_/Ladies first,/_ thought Naruto as Gaara stepped in front of the blonde.

'_Shut up._' The irritable teen took off his red scarf and gourd and flung them at the blonde's face, missing the grin that spread over his face. _/Make 'im bleed, Gaa-chan./_ He turned to Ryusho and disappeared.

The dark-eyed man blinked in surprise as Gaara slammed a fist into his stomach and sent him crashing towards the wall. He flipped over and landed on his feet, making dents in the cave where he landed, and flipped over, shooting after Gaara with a slight smile. '**_Over and get him in the back_.**' Gaara jumped over Ryusho's head in a fluid motion and slammed his foot into Ryusho's back again, sending him flying away again. The man made a grunt and shot back at Gaara, this time blocking his kick with a kick of his own and sending a punch under Gaara's arms and landing a solid connection to his chest. Ryusho waited a moment before withdrawing his hand and blowing on it. Gaara rubbed his chest with a frown, pulling out the crushed remians of a necklace. His eyes narrowed. _'Naruto made this for me,' _he thought to himself as he tore the remains off and let the beads fall to the floor, crumbs and string. "Ouch," he muttered, dropping into a fighting stance and launching several punches at Ryusho which were all blocked.

Itachi looked at Naruto, who was holding his friend's gourd. "I thought Gaara's sand always worked for him," said Itachi presently as Gaara flew over their heads, kicking and ducking Ryusho's own kick as the two flew apart again.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but he can call it off--" **_/Hush! Don't tell him anything else_,**/ commanded Kyuubi suddenly and Naruto shut his mouth. Itachi didn't notice the abrupt motion and assumed that Naruto had ment only to say what had been said.

Gaara's punches were coming faster now, and Ryusho actually looked as if he were having trouble blocking. In fact, Naruto thought to himself with some pride and surprise, it had been a full minute since Ryusho had been able to retaliate. With a grunt, Gaara forced Ryusho to block with both hands and he slipped past the defences, slamming a fist to Ryusho's gut. The man grunted and flew across the room, crashing in the wall and debris crumbling about him. Itachi rose an eyebrow as Ryusho stood up, dusting himself off with a good-natured laugh. "All right," he said, grinning widely, "I won't hold back neither." He shook his head shortly and unlatched his cape. The cloak fell around his ankles and a cloud of dust rose up from where it dropped into the earth, creating a small crater in the ground. The man stretched his shoulders, jumping back and forth as Gaara rose an invisible eyebrow at the new speed. He lowered his gaze to the ground and put his arms up in front of him, waiting. Ryusho came at him, slamming a fist into a barely-there shoulder that had pulled away as Gaara sensed what the man was aiming for. Ryusho moved around Gaara and shot at his head, Gaara ducking and sending a kick of his own towards the man. Ryusho disappeared and Gaara along with him. There was a clash and something tore, blood splattering on the ground. The sand stirred in Naruto's hand and Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"Don't kill him," he said to the air as Ryusho and Gaara stopped, reappearing and startling him--Ryusho was grinning and cupping his jaw, blood seeping from his mouth. Gaara wrung his wrist, glaring at the man.

"I haven't bled for a long time," muttered the green-haired man, "nor have I ever had that much fun sparring." He spat blood from his mouth and crossed his arms.

"All the same, we'll work on your blocking. If I'd punched instead of kicked on that third pass, you'd be the one bleeding." Gaara nodded, having made that observation himself. Naruto got up and cracked his knuckles.

"All right--my turn!"

Ryusho nodded and they cut to the chase, Naruto dropping and flying forwards at his opponent. Itachi watched in mild interest as Naruto threw a few wild punches and kicks, all effortlessly blocked by the older man, and then narrowed his eyes as Naruto grinned and dove into Ryusho's wide open stomach, a fist snaking between his blocking arm and drove into his chest with a **pow!,** sending Ryusho into the wall. Ryusho shook his head and got back to his feet, looking at Naruto with a wild gaze. "Wha-hoooooo-ee! What happened? I blocked you but you got me!" Naruto grinned. "Aw, I just got lucky," he said as he jumped up and down and shot at Ryusho again, shooting a fist at Ryusho's chest. Ryusho shot away and Naruto pulled his fist back, never making contact with the wall as he turned 180 degrees and shot after his opponent. Gaara watched the fight with mild interest, catching the slips both made, and then shut his eyes, Naruto jumping away from Ryusho's fist as it slammed into the ground, creating a small crater in the middle of the room. Naruto's jaw dropped. "Woooow!!!" Naruto gasped, looking over the hole and then back at Ryusho who had turned to retrieve his cloak.

"You two are good, but not good enough," said Ryusho harshly from lack of breath, "You'll get cloaks from me tomorrow mornin' and some weights. Itachi, you get them their rooms and size 'em up for me." The green-haired man threw his cloak back over his shoulders and winked at Itachi as he slipped out of the room. Naruto and Gaara looked at each other and then at Itachi. The black-haired shinobi was staring at the two of them, lost in his thoughts.

'_... do you think he ever misses his brother?' _

_/I doubt a day goes by when he's not thinkin' bout his brother,/_ thought Naruto with a smile. Itachi was as engrossed in his thoughts as one of his power would ever be, and Naruto cleared his throat, grinning as Itachi looked up out of his thoughtss.

"So? Are we gonna get to see those rooms or are we gonna stand here all day?"

* * *

.

"Move over."

"No way--it's freezing out there."

"Then stop squirming."

Naruto made a face as Gaara glared down at him, holding the blanket over them with steady, unshaking hands, keeping out most of the frigid cold air. Naruto fidgeted one last time, squirming between Gaara's arms and shuddering at the warmth. It was freezing in their new rooms, and even after three weeks, Naruto still wasn't used to the almost-Arctic temperatures. /_Now I know why they wear those huge cloaks all the time,_/ he muttered in his head, snuggling against Gaara's warmth, annoying his red-headed partner, _/it's so coooollld ..._/ Gaara shifted the blanket one more time and Naruto put his cheek on Gaara's shirt, letting out a giggle as Gaara jumped at the contact. "Naruto, hold still," he muttered, grabbing the other boy by the arms, letting the blanket drop, and a fresh wave of cold rushed against them. Naruto shivered and the door opened, Itachi appearing next to them.

"Get up," he ordered, tossing cloaks at them, "we're training."

Naruto jumped at the cloak and threw it on, allowing its billowing folds to trap and warm heat around his body, warmth returning to his fingertips like fire. Gaara took his cloak, throwing it over his shoulders and looking at Naruto with a half-grin. "Next time, you can hold up the blanket," he whispered as they followed Itachi out the door.

They walked along the empty halls and made it to their training room. This was the largest cavern they'd seen so far, and it was enclosed with a jutsu that allowed them to use their chakara to the full extent without being sensed from outside the room. This let Naruto and Gaara practice pulling out the demon's chakara freely, no matter how much energy they pulled out. Itachi walked in and the room darkened as he looked around at the unlit torches. Naruto hopped into the room, and Gaara followed. Itachi shut the door and they were encased in total darkness. With his shiringan, Itachi saw both boys perfectly. Naruto blinked and forced some chakara into his eyes as well as Gaara, and their eyes glowed softly, illuminating what ever they stared at. Itachi clapped his hands.

"Lights off. You'll spar without sight. Close your eyes and I'll fight you one at a time. Whoever doesn't land a punch has to light the room." Gaara and Naruto revved up--from what their demons had told them, Itachi would make trouble for them if they were any better than him in any particular fire jutsu, so neither had performed them well enough yet, and neither wanted to be 'embarssed' by not being able to do what their teacher wanted. Itachi smirked and shot at Naruto.

Naruto heard him coming in time to take a step back but caught a smack to the jaw in the dark as Itachi's fist slipped silently through the blackness. Naruto grunted, keeping the pain to himself, and readied himself. He shut his eyes and listened, smelling around for Itachi. It was one of his more interesting traits--he could usually tell what people were feeling or 'see' their true intentions by smelling them.

_/**Good. Think clearly. Where will he come from next?**_/

Naruto felt the air tremble around him and he jumped back as Itachi appeared in front of him, swiping at his head again. Naruto ducked the first punch, threw his arm out to block the second, and the third caught him smartly in the face. Naruto bit his lip and kept on his feet, flipping over and shooting forward, hearing a footstep, a stopping footstep, which meant-- /_--he's right--/_ Naruto threw a fist and something connected.

/-_-here!!!_/

"Good," said Itachi softly, "but not good enough."

Naruto opened his palm and felt the muscle of Itachi's forearm-he'd been blocked. Cursing, Naruto jumped away from Itachi's spinning kick, following the swishing patterns of his cloak and shooting back towards his invisible opponent with a silent yell. Itachi saw him come and ducked the punch, blocked the kick, leapt away from the third and fourth punches, and then retaliated boredly. "You're blind in the dark without your chakara," said Itachi irritably, "use your chakara and open your eyes." Naruto concentrated some chakara to his eyes in mid air and opened them, slamming his fist into Itachi's open palm with perfect connection. Itachi felt something snap in his hand and told Naruto to stand down. Itachi swung his fist around and then gave Naruto a half-smile.

"You can sit down now, Naruto. Gaara, no chakara. Shut your eyes and let's go." Gaara nodded and shot at Itachi with his eyes shut. Naruto watched with chakara in his own eyes. /_... to his left--jump ... Gaara, don't punch ..._/ He kept these thoughts to himself, but Gaara caught the last thought and didn't punch, throwing his foot up and connecting with Itachi's shoulder. The black-haired boy narrowed his eyes as he flew back, checking his shoulder with his uninjured hand for any breaks, and then smacked Gaara in the face with a right hook, throwing him into the wall. There was a silent thump and Gaara landed on his feet, rubbing his back where the sand had caught him.

"Both of you are blind in the dark. You need more training in case a mission ever reqires you to perform this. We'll work on it. As for your punishment ...both of you landed something on me, so both of you will practice the fire element jutsus."

Gaara's eye twitched and Naruto groaned. "Itachi-nii, I don't wanna!" Itachi rolled his eyes. "You'll do it or you'll sleep outside for a week." Naruto grumbled but made the appropriate seals, and the fire flickered to life weakly at his fingertips, spreading slowly along the air to light the first torch. Gaara followed suit, lighting a single torch with a slow, steady tongue of flame. Itachi frowned and used a water-element jutsu to extinguish the flames.

"That was too weak. Stronger. You'll do this jutsu at your maximum until I tell you to stop."

The boys repeated the process, their fire a little stronger, more intense. Itachi wasn't satafied and had them re-light the torches until they were panting from effort, which took hours. The black-eyed man narrowed his eyes and Naruto shook his hands; they were feeling a little funny. Itachi told him to stop and Naruto fell to his knees, sighing. Gaara stopped as well, looking at his hands. His fingers were still twitching, jerking in the movements needed to form the correct jutsu, tiger, horse ...

Gaara blinked as fire appeared in his hands. "What?! I haven't done ..."

Naruto looked in surprise at his own palms--they'd unconsciously performed the seal without thought as Naruto said the jutsu name in his head and flame had risen in singing tongues from his hands, glaring around the room, falling on Itachi's impressed gaze.

"Good. This is what we'll work on after lunch. I want you to perform jutsus until they're secondary to you. You should think the jutsu in your head and perform the seal with either one hand or mentally. The rest will come naturally to you. For instance ..." he held out his hand and two cups appeared. Naruto blinked.

"Summoning no jutsu," he said softly, and his hands jerked, a cup of ramen appearing in his own hands. He stared down at his fingertips with amazement. Itachi's mouth quirked into a thin line. "You have the chakara and experience of a demon, Naruto. This will all be easier as you go along. These weeks have proven that." Naruto nodded, grinning.

"Cool! So are we done learning the rules yet?"

Itachi blinked. He'd almost forgotten that the two were still playing a game in their minds, waiting for their first turn. They'd been shown all the jutsus that Sojirou knew, they'd choosen the best weapons that Makita offered, and so far, all they'd done with Itachi was taijutsu and physical training and stealth training with weights.

Naruto guessed their cloaks alone weighed a hundred pounds, and their extra weights totaled something around another fifty. Gaara had mastered the extra weight within a week and Naruto within the second week, and both had been increasing the weight as they trained harder. Each day was routine; wake up, stretch, spar, train with Itachi, eat, train with Ryusho and Sojirou, train with Makita, spar each other, eat again, then bed. They skipped breakfast because it wasn't needed. They ate fruit and other healthy things provided in their rooms and usually ramen or sushi, depending on their level of sucess. Naruto always worked harder for ramen and got a platteer of sushi when Itachi or his other teachers felt he wasn't performing perfectly.

Gaara's only motivation was to stay with Naruto. The blue-eyed boy was his only comfort. Itachi and the other Akatsuki were family, they loved or at least cared for him, he was sure, but Naruto had been there first. Naruto had been his comfort when he began to feel emotions that he didn't understand, and he always kept a half-smile on his face. Gaara even began to ease into the habbit of a five-minute nap with Naruto watching him in the middle of the day, and for the first time in his life since he'd ever recalled, he'd begun to know sleep and dreams. Naruto was the only reason Gaara kept training as hard as he did--there was no bloodlust in him, no desire to kill. Gaara only knew that when he looked at Naruto, he felt the need to go on, to exist.

Itachi stood up, stretching his arms. "It should be soon. We've kept you here for three weeks and I think that you're almost ready." Naruto blinked. "Ready for what?" A new voice spoke from the walls.

"Itachi, Gaara, Naruto, report to the main base immeditally." Itachi looked at the ceiling, ignoring Naruto's downcast face and rumbling stomach, "We're coming."

He looked at the two of them. "Perhaps this is it. We'll see what he has to say first. Let's go."

The two boys got up and followed him obediently, hunger forgotten in their curosity.

* * *

.

There were six waiting for them in the room; Makita and Ryusho, Sojirou and Akuma, and two twins with long, black hair. Naruto wondered to himself if they were boys or girls. As they walked into the room, the two twins bowed at Itachi and Makita rolled his eyes. Ryusho opened his mouth to say something and a voice interrupted them.

"I'm coming down." The green-haired man shut his mouth and looked at the stone seat to his left. A man with amber eyes and silver hair appeared on it, a white cloak hanging loosely off his shoulders._ /His smile isn't nice,/_ thought Naruto instantally catching the hidden gleam behind cool amber orbs,_ /not at all./_ But the smiling man stood, waving his arm at the two boys.

"This is your first mission. We hope you'll be sucessful."

Ryusho winked at them. "Yeah--don't die out there." Gaara sweatdropped as Naruto backed into him and away from the grinning man. "D-die?" Makita scoffed. "He's just jokin'," he muttered gruffly, "less likely you'll get caught." Itachi made a face. Makita being sentimental about the boy's health wouldn't be good for his ego. The amber-eyed man looked at the two boys with a thin smile and waved at the door. Naruto caught the twitch of his fingers and the jutsu that revealed the door back to the outside world. He wondered how long it would take him to mimic and use that spell as his own. Gaara and Naruto turned to face the man and bowed as they'd been told to, and then turned to leave. Naruto grinned at Itachi on the way out, and the cold-eyed boy nodded at him shortly, then turned away as they left the cavern.

"Well, that was--"

"--dramatic," muttered the twins, looking at the man sitting on the stone seat. He chuckled and looked around the room. Makita and Soujirou left, Akuma behind them. All three disappeared into a long hallway and Itachi decided that it would be best for him to get back to the training area to tidy it up.

"Itachi."

The voice that called him was the same that had persuaded him to join the Akatsuki in the first place. The voice that caused him to stop was the only one that made him actually flinch. The voice came from behind him. The black-eyed boy looked up, staring straight into his leader's eyes. He dared to stare straight at him, dared to look straight into the eyes of a man that could turn him into a whisp of nothingness without blinking.

"Yes, Yuki?"

Itachi dared to meet the eyes of the most feared and powerful man in the Akatsuki, and for that, he would be punished, decided the man with narrowed amber eyes.

"I have an important mission for you."

Itachi frowned, looking at something other than the gleam in Yuki's eyes. "I am currently on a mission, sir."

Yuki waved a slender hand. "Then I temporarily withdraw you from your mission, Itachi," he said cheerfully, ignoring Itachi's look of outrage, "I have a more pressing matter for you to attend to."

Itachi's mind raced. /_I was assigned to gather information on the most powerful people in the existing villages. I've been on this assignment for over six months and NOW he wants to cut me off?_/ He cleared his thoughts with a shake of the head.

"Sir, I have an accountable amount of information on hand. Have my findings not met your standards?" The fair-skinned man waved a hand.

"Of course they have. I just want you to do something else for a change. You can work on that aside from this, but I'm putting this mission on the top of your list." Itachi sighed. To agrue further would mean losing the project completly. He bowed. Yuki smiled at the sign of obedience and the twins giggled, slipping next to their leader and sitting on either side of him like pet dogs as Yuki put a hand through one's hair.

"Follow the fox and raccoon; see how they perform. I'll expect reports by eagle every month."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "I will still be allowed to--"

"Yes, yes," sighed Yuki boredly, "you can still gather information on your other targets. But you'll only do that after I've recieved a full report on our two newest members because you know how much members mean to us. We don't want them to get hurt." Itachi seriously doubted that Yuki thought anything of their health. He probably just wanted him to keep tab of their progress in nin, tai, and genjutsu. Itachi bowed his head and then stood up, heading for the training grounds. Suddenly, something caught mind-/_a time limit._/ He turned back to Yuki with a lowered gaze.

"Sir. How long will this assignment last?"

The twin to the left giggled. "It's until the next--"

"--chuunin exams in Konoha!"

Itachi could only wonder how they finished each other's sentences and looked at the leader of the Akatsuki as he let go of the twin's hair and stood, eyes slit and teasing.

"Oh, about four years."

* * *

I'll try to keep updating, but I don't have internet access at home, I will stress this until it gets across. and ther'es my bad habbit of editing thigns tht I should just be writing instead of writing the next chapters. Sorry! Review (if you will) and tell me what kind of story you wanna see more of--I'll try to work it in . Anything that works with what' I'm already going on ...

Next chapter: Konoha


	4. Konoha

**CHAPTER 4: KONOHA**

I'm having troubleloading this chapter, so I'm gonna take it slow and only put on half of it.Thank you all who reviewed. The handful of you. I write this in your honor, and also because I think it's a good story. Also, thankyou, thank you so much crimson nightmare who reviewed. You really made me feel good about this story. That's all it takes. A few words out of the goodness of your heart, and that makes me feel so good about giving out chapters fast as I can.

**Warnings**, I am moving the whole Zabuza incident to when they're 16 because that's the way my story goes, and I'm shortening it immensely. I mean, lots. I'm also borrowing some things from the manga, and eating them. No, I'm just toying with them. :) Read on.

* * *

.

_"Hey, loser, look up!"_

_A boy with bright yellow hair looked up in time to receive a balloon in the face, water splattering all over his dark blue shirt. He yelled and fell down amid laughter from the few students left at the academy who had gathered to laugh at his expense. The six-year-old Kiba stuck out his tongue. "That's what you get for stickin' gum in Akamaru's fur, loser!" He ran away with his friends. A girl with bright white eyes looked at the soaked boy with a shy look of reassurance and dashed off to follow the loud-mouthed boy who was already laughing at someone else._

_The boy with bright yellow hair shook his head, water flying everywhere, when something poked his shoulder. He turned around to see a towel extended to him. Curiously, the boy took the towel and blinked up at the tall black-haired boy who was giving him a familiar look._

_"Dry off, Naruto," said the black-haired boy softly, "Itachi-nii's gonna come pick us up soon." He sat down next to the little boy he and Itachi considered their little brother, giving him a look of supportive consolence that only brothers shared._

_Naruto smiled, and took off his shirt to wring it. "Thanks, Sasuke-chan."_

_The small Uchiha hid a smile as Naruto threw a semi-dry shirt on over his spiky hair and they sat, waiting for Sasuke's brother._

_"Sasuke?"_

_"What?"_

"Sasuke?"

The black-haired Uchiha looked up. "Huh?"

Sakura sighed. "I've only been calling your name for ten minutes, Sasuke-kun," said Sakura from the bottom of the hill, "Hinata-chan and Kakashi-sensei are waiting for us at the bridge. Let's go--I think he's got us a C-class mission again!"

She blushed and smiled up at him. Sasuke shook his head. /_I have to focus. I can't think about my brother right now. I have to focus on becoming strong first. The first step is to climb to the ranks of ANBU./_ He leapt down from his perch and landed next to Sakura. They fell into step and made their way back to the bridge where Kakashi and Hinata awaited them.

Team seven consisted of Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura, trained by Kakashi, the pervert. As far as Sasuke was concerned, Iruka stuck him with two females on purpose. Either that, or Itachi had snuck in and made it so that he wasn't on a team with anyone he could call a rival or equal. Something about being on a team with two girls and a perverted wack-job made Sasuke wonder sometimes. It seemed like something was always off, but he could never exactly place what.

"S-Sasuke-kun, ohayo!" Sasuke looked up. "Ohayo, Hinata-san," he said softly as he approached, then louder, "What's the mission?" Hinata nodded and looked at Kakashi. "We're to assist an old man back to his village. He's supposed to be someone important, but we suspect that this is going to be a relatively easy case." Sasuke shrugged and Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "They usually are," she muttered as Hinata continued in a robotic voice. "The objective is to return to the village without the death of the client. That is all." She stopped and blushed, putting a hand in her pocket and another on her lips, as if afraid that they'd speak on their own if she didn't restrain them. Sasuke looked around.

"Where is the client, master Kakashi?" The silver-haired jounin looked up from his book. "Hmm ... he's supposed to meet up with us at 9:45." Sasuke looked at the sun and then a shadow behind the bridge. He frowned.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's 11:00." Kakashi looked back at his book.

"Yes. It's 11:00 AM. Our mission is at 9:45 PM."

Sakura and Hinata groaned and Sasuke made a face. "You're dismissed until 9:30!" called Kakashi as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sakura rolled her eyes. "Honestly! Of all the ... and I was all packed--"

"Sakuraaaaaa-chan!"

Sakura and Hinata looked up as Sasuke stepped aside of the green blur rushing at them, stopping short in front of Sakura with a bouquet of daises, daffodils, and violets. Sakura laughed as Lee knelt and proffered them to her. "My dearest Sakura-chan! I heard that you were going on another C-class mission and I want to wish you the best of luck on your journeys!" Lee stopped and sniffed for a moment, looking at the sky, thinking who-knew-what, and then looked back at Sakura.

His eyes formed flaming cheeri-Os as he thrust a fist in the air and posed.

"I will think of you every day until you return!!!" Hinata giggled and Lee looked over at Sakura, who was shaking with suppressed giggles as well. "What is it?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Lee, but the mission isn't until later tonight."

Lee blinked, thinking for a moment longer, and then struck a pose. "Yaaaaa-hooo! This means I can still spend time with you, fairest of maidens! I will claim your heart, yet!" Sakura slapped him lightly and Hinata laughed.

Sasuke made a face. "I'm off," he muttered. Sakura and Hinata waved at him before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Lee posing and smiling like a million yen.

* * *

.

Sasuke met Neji at the training grounds. The Hyuga was looking at the sky and didn't seem to notice Sasuke sneak up behind him. Taken unaware by the other boy's pensive mood, Sasuke decided to wake him up in his own way. He slid a kunai out of his holster and flung it at the other boy's shoulder. A hand shot out like a snake and returned it, Sasuke catching it by the handle inches from his heart. The white-eyed boy turned slightly to see the other gennin.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun."

"Damn. I always forget about your eyes, Neji." He put his arms in his pockets and walked over, standing beside something he could consider a best friend. Neji looked at the sky and leaned his head on Sasuke's shoulder. The other boy mechanically slid a hand around Neji's waist.

"You seem tired," whispered Sasuke as they stared into the sky. "No," whispered Neji softly, "just currently ... amazed." Sasuke didn't understand him but looked at the sky and was silent anyways. There wasn't a cloud in the sky; it was a clear blanket of blue that stretched forever and ever, eventually turning black and being dotted with stars. The sky was beautiful, but Sasuke doubted that staring at it all day would help Neij get over whatever he was on about. He stood for another minute before tapping Neji's shoulder, and pulling the other boy to the ground. They sat for a while, just looking at the forest. There were a million more things to look at in the forest. You could see the trees, the animals, the rocks, the atmosphere, the smells so thick that you could almost see them. The forest was full of things to notice, but that's why they stared at the sky, Sasuke supposed.

'It's an escape from the dullness of things, and objects, and just ... just... is.'

Neji looked at Sasuke curiously. "Why'd you come see me?"

Sasuke pulled himself into a sitting position and pulled Neji's upper half into his lap, holding his arms back and looking down at him seriously. "Because you're radiating stress a mile away. What's wrong?"

Neji rolled out of his grasp and stood up. "I'm not sure. I've just felt an incredible amount of unease this entire week ... like something's building up and is going to drop on us. On you." Neji looked at Sasuke. "I don't want to lose my best friend." Neji blinked and frowned. "Eh-I didn't mean that to sound so cheesy."

Sasuke nodded. "I don't want to lose me either, but that's not what's bothering you. Tell me or I'll beat it out of you." Neji looked at Sasuke and crossed his arms.

"Fine. It's Iruka. He's been really odd this week, aside from this feeling. He keeps spacing out--" Sasuke shrugged. "He does that all the time." Neji frowned. "Not more than once a day. He's been struggling to stay in the conscious world, Sasuke. He can't keep a straight train of thought going for five minutes." Sasuke put his hands on his hips. "So he has ADD. We can take him to Hokage and see--"

"Sasuke, he keeps talking to himself," said Neji with concern. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What else is new?" Neji frowned. "The person he's talking about. I know I've heard his name before, but I can't ..." He put a hand to his chin, furrowing his brow and trying to recall something. Sasuke nudged his friend with a fist. "Hey--I'm still here. What's Iruka so worked up about?"

"Someone called 'Naruto'." Sasuke blinked. "I don't see why Iruka-sensei would talk about someone we don't--" Sasuke was coming closer, his gaze soft and cautious. "What was that name?" Neji looked at Sasuke. "It was Naruto, but I have no idea who he'd--."

Sasuke turned around. "Take me to see Iruka." Neji frowned deeper. "But I don't know--" "Neji. Take me to see him. Please."

Sasuke looked at him, the look that they shared when one desperately wanted something that the other didn't, and Neji gave in, looking away first. "Fine. Follow me." He shot off, Sasuke following his trail.

They made it to the hospital and slipped past the receptionist. Neji took Sasuke up three floors and through two long corridors before stopping at room 3-027. "Let's go in," he said softly, pushing the door open. The room was white, with two square windows and a bed lined with white sheets. There was a desk, a lamp and a chair in the right corner under a window, and Iruka sat at the desk, looking over papers and muttering to himself softly. Sasuke and Neji closed the door, making enough noises for a normal person to hear them, but Iruka didn't even look up. Sasuke shut the door with a gentle kick, enough to jerk Iruka out of his trance but not enough to break the door in. Iruka looked around the room and smiled.

"Hello, Neji, Sasuke. Have you two seen Naruto? I still have his homework from yesterday."

Neji looked at the floor. "Iruka-sensei, it's us--Neji and Sasuke. We're not in the academy anymore." Iruka looked up at them and smiled brightly.

"Oh, and so you aren't! How clever; you've grown very well! You both look like you're fifteen or sixteen. I wonder if Naruto still has that ticket I gave him for free ramen ..." he talked off into his own little world and the door opened, a silver-haired man walking into the room.

"Hey. What's up?" Iruka looked up and blinked.

"Kakashi!" He jumped, papers flying and his pen dropping to the floor. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, I just--" Kakashi caught Iruka's wrist, stopping him as he went to pick up his things and dragging him back to his bed. Kakashi then looked at the two boys. "Neji-san, Sasuke-san, what are you two doing here?" Sasuke looked at Iruka. "We came to see him. Neji said he knows something about a boy named Naruto."

Kakashi nodded gravely. "Yes, but it's ... he keep slipping in and out of reality. He says he can see Naruto every now and then. I think that Iruka's been working too much, so I've made him take leave. He stayed at home for a while but he started talking to Naruto and I was forced to bring him here." Kakashi looked at Iruka with a soft gaze. "I'm worried about him." Iruka was looking around, smiling at everyone without a care in the world.

"Hey, you know what'll be great? When we can go to ramen, Naruto," said Iruka brightly, looking at the window, "We can get as much as you want because I got my pay check yesterday!" Looking at his former teacher, Sasuke felt a pang of guilt for coming without truly understanding Iruka's condition. The older man caught Sasuke's gaze and smiled brightly, only making the black-haired Uchiha feel worse. Even though questions flooded his mind, he couldn't bring himself to ask Iruka about Naruto now and he turned away from the smiling chuunin.

"I--" For a moment, his throat caught and then he shook his head, putting a hand on the doorframe. "I'm leaving. I'll see you later," he muttered, disappearing out the door. Neji followed him. Kakashi stayed with Iruka until the chuunin recognized him, and then left as Iruka asked if he would leave him by himself for a while. Iruka was alone for fifty minutes. A doctor in a long, white coat came in and took his pulse, checked him foot to head and found nothing wrong again.

"Is that true?"

The doctor looked up. "Hm?" Iruka was talking to the window, gazing towards the forest.

"He's coming back. Naruto's coming back."

The doctor shook his head and called a nurse, leaving Iruka to stare out the window.

* * *

.

Hinata was playing with Akamaru when Kiba and Shino came out of the restaurant. "I'm s-sorry that th-they don't allow dogs in t-there," said Hinata softly as Kiba walked over and took Akamaru from her, the little dog yipping happily. Kiba grinned. "Yeah, well, Akamaru likes you good enough that it don't matter! C'mon, let's get ice cream next!"

Shino shrugged. "As long as you buy," he said softly.

Kiba's eye twitched. "I paid for lunch. You pay for desert."

"Real men would pay for it, but you're both sissies! I'll pay for desert!" sang a blonde as she bounced out after them, grinning and throwing her arms around both of her teammates. "Can't let the marvelous, super, indestructible team 8 go without desert, can I?"

Kiba grinned. "That means all the toppings you can eat! Come on, Shino, Hinata, food's on blondie!" The loudmouth grabbed Hinata's hand and Shino's arm, dragging the both of them away from a shouting Ino.

They found Shikamaru and Chouji splitting a float and Sakura sharing a banana split with Lee. The four waved to their friends as they came in, Akamaru hidden in Hinata's large jacket. Kiba looked at the menu. "Hinata, what's your favorite?" he asked, looking over at the shy girl with a smile. Hinata blushed and stuttered something unintelligible. Ino threw an arm over her shoulder and translated for Kiba.

"She said 'Strawberry Float,' loverboy!"

Kiba flushed and then shook himself, glaring at Ino. "Shut up!" He turned to the counter and slammed his fist down.

"One strawberry float, orange sherbet, and a double-scoop moose tracks!"

The girl behind the counter nodded. "It'll be up in a minute; go an' take a seat."

Kiba nodded, Ino taking his place and pulling out her wallet as Kiba grabbed Hinata and Ino and slid into a booth near Shikamaru, Chouji, Sakura and Lee. All four waved at them as a waitress came by with their orders, Ino's sherbet, Shino's moose tracks, and a strawberry float with two bendable straws. Hinata and Kiba sat next to each other, and offered the other the first drink. Eventually, Hinata took the first sip, blushing. Kiba just grinned to himself mentally and innocently stuck his straw in next to hers. Ino snuck closer to Shino, who obliviously ate his ice cream without even noticing Ino take a scoop from his and eat it herself. Shikamaru noticed everything and smacked Chouji lightly when he finished off the float behind his back. Sakura and Lee exchanged laughs with Hinata and Kiba, and Akamaru slept happily in Kiba's lap. This was how Kakashi found them when he walked in with Sasuke.

"Sakura, Hinata, our client changed his mind, we're leaving now."

Both girls sighed and hugged Lee and Kiba respectively as well as Ino and Shikamaru before following their sensei out the door. Lee looked at where Kakashi had stood.

"Gai-sensei's right--he has the worst timing ever." Kiba nodded. "You could say that again."

"Gai-sensei's right--he has the--"

"I didn't mean it."

"Ah."

* * *

.

Zabuza looked out over the small lake outside. A boy of fifteen brought him an apple and a tray of scrolls with a place for signature on the bottom. "Lord Zabuza, the lower class Kenzi ask for a 20 cut in financial profits from the board project that started two months ago because their sector is becoming un--"

"Shut up!"

A kunai found its way through the boy's shoulder and he bit his lip, standing still as Zabuza turned from the window and fumed at him.

"Those lower-class idoits have no place demanding anything from me! I got them this fortress, didn't I?" The boy didn't answer. Zabuza's glare intensified. "I saved your worthless life, brat. Answer me when I speak to you, Haku," he growled dangerously. Haku nodded blankly as his hand rose to cup some of the blood from his shoulder wound.

"Yes, Lord Zabuza."

Zabuza frowned. "Get out of here. Tell them I decline and clean up. Someone's approaching the northern border."

Haku bowed and fled the room.

* * *

.

"It's been a while."

"Yeah, almost five years, counting the introduction. But we're back."

"Naruto, it looks like someone tried to take over," muttered the red head.

"Don't think about it, Gaara. Let's go home."

The two boys walked into Infinity fortress without a care, the doors slamming behind them with a resounding clang before the first trap fell.

* * *

.

Kakashi and Tazuna spoke in the back of the group as they walked along. Sakura and Hinata were next to Sasuke, each hiding a kunai under their shirts. Sasuke had his under his arm guard. He knew that after the attack on them by the demon brothers that there was another big fish to fry. Kakashi had them stop as they came to a bridge.

"We have to be careful," said Tazuna as he signaled to the man under the bridge that he wanted to cross, "there's a demon working for Gato. You know his name, I think, master Kakashi. Zabuza."

Kakashi tensed. "Yeah, I know him. He's a monster; he's claimed the lives of many careless wanderers. He might be too much for this group. If I knew he was involved ..."

They all stepped into the ferry boat and the man started rowing them across silently.

* * *

.

Zabuza faced the two boys, glaring at their blood-soaked hands and calm faces.

"So. You killed everyone on the third and fifth floors and tore up everything that you saw. Who do you think you are?" Naruto looked around. "Gaara, he put a picture over the east outlook." Zabuza's eye twitched as he growled. "That area was ugly. We burnt it to a crisp."

Gaara's eye twitched this time. "You burt the area the eastern outlook oversees?"

Haku stepped forwards. "Speak to Lord Zabuza with respect!"

Naruto frowned. "Why should we? Why do you?"

Haku's eyes darkened. "He saved me from death. I owe my life to hi--." Zabuza punched Haku into the wall. "Who told you you could talk?!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Haku!" He turned on Zabuza. "What was that for? He was only talking!" Zabuza laughed, fingering his giant sword. "You'll die at my hands, brat. You have no idea who you're up against."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Shut up."

Zabuza leered. "I can say all I want about the brat--you can't do anything about it. Haku owes his life to me, and he'll do as I say; he'll live by my rules. He spoke out of turn and I gave him a little reprimanding."

Haku got back up, holding his cheek in a hand, eyes cast to the floor. "I'm sorry, Lord Zabuza." Zabuza turned to Naruto. "See? Haku is mine. He's a perfect obedient puppet." Zabuza took Haku's face and ran a hand down it, the other boy not so much as shuddering as he did, even though Naruto could see the fear and pain in his eyes. "I don't think I'll have him dirty his pretty hands on your corpse, however. You'll die at my hands." He grinned and shoved Haku to the floor, gripping the handle of his sword and preparing to swing it. Gaara glared and moved in front of Naruto, catching the blade with his hand. Zabuza's eyes widened. "Wha--" Gaara's eyes filled with crushing fury and he growled out.

"Step outside."

* * *

.

Sakura fidgeted in the silent boat. "Why isn't anyone-" Kakashi caught Sakura's eye and put his finger to his lips as her soft words echoed, resounding in the fog. She clamped a hand over her mouth and Hinata shuddered as the dense fog clouded their range of sight.

Suddenly, Kakashi looked up. There was a battle going on somewhere close, Sasuke could hear someone die on the bridge above their heads and something fell into the water a few yards away. Kakashi couldn't make out what it was because of the fog before it sank bellow the surface. Tazuna made signs for the man to speed it up and the boat went faster, chancing the softest of noises as they made their way across the channel. There was another moment of exchanged blows, a clang of metal and then a ripping noise. Silence followed.

As soon as they reached shore, Kakashi and Sasuke shot off towards the unfinished bridge they'd crossed under. Sakura and Hinata took Tazuna, running with him after Kakashi and Sasuke. They found them stopped short on the bridge, looking out onto the remains of a battlefield.  
Blood soaked the bridge. There were seven bodies on the ground that looked as if they'd been crushed, squeezed like lemons until all the blood came out of them one way or another.

Sasuke glared around and then took an instinctive step back. "What happened?"

Kakashi flipped off his forehead protector, revealing his shiringan and searched for any sign of chakara. All he could find was a weak pulse that shuddered and died to his left, a man letting out his last breath as Sakura and Hinata jumped away from him. "Kakashi-sensei! Someone killed all these people!" Kakashi's eyes widened. "Only one person?" Tazuna was rushing forwards, checking each face and body. "My god ... my god, this isn't real ..."

Hinata nodded. "I've confirmed the footprints around here--there are seven idental sets and they all belong to these men, and there are only two more--one was here, where someone stood still for a long time, and the other leads towards the man that Tazuna-san is by ..." She called the other three over and Kakashi stopped dead as he met the face that glared up at him from death.

"It's Zabuza!"

Sure enough, the demon was lying on the ground, dead. His head was intact, although laying a few feet from his body, and his mouth and eyes had blood leaking out of them. His hands had been sliced off clean at the wrist and his body was shredded by what Sasuke guessed had been kunai and shuriken and some form of dagger, judging from the longer, more jagged marks down his flat stomach and thighs. Sakura backed away, eyes glued to the sight. Hinata sobbed and turned away into Kakashi's chest. Kakashi awkwardly patted her back. "Hinata, try to be strong. We have to deal with this. You know that." Hinata nodded into his shoulder, still shaking and crying. She couldn't speak back and Sasuke looked at Tazuna, who was backing away from the body with a mix of relief and fear.

"It's-it's not real... he's dead--he's dead! I don't have to worry about him any more! He can't sabotage the bridge project anymore!" He laughed for a moment as Kakashi and Sasuke looked at Zabuza's body.

"But you do have something to worry about," said Sasuke as Sakura wrote the events down on a scroll, "you shouldn't be so loud." Tazuna turned to Sasuke, eyes shut and his mouth set in a smirk. "No I don't--with Zabuza out of the way, I can finally finish the bridge! Why should I worry? The only thing I have to think about now is payin' your little fees!" Sakura looked up from her scroll.

"Mister Tazuna? Would it be possible for the person who killed Tazuna to want to come after you as well?" Tazuna froze. "Wha--"

Kakashi frowned. "Had to be someone powerful to defeat Zabuza like ... this."

Tazuna backed away, hands over his head, eyes wild and fear surrounding him again. "No, no, no!!! Zabuza was killed! He died! He can't hurt me anymore! And why would the person who killed him come after me if that was what Zabuza was doing?!" Kakashi pulled out a kunai and looked around. "Perhaps Gato got someone better to kill you faster. The rich are rather impatient, you know," he said casually, looking around as Sasuke activated his own shiringan. Tazuna looked around. Even Hinata and Sakura were pulling out their weapons.

He felt fear grasp him and promptly fainted.

* * *

.

"That was too easy."

"Of course. That loser was just weak. You need a real challenge ... like me!"

The first voice scoffed. "You wish."

The second voice sounded indignant. "I can beat you right now, Gaara."

"Go to sleep."

"I'm not tiiiirrred."

"Go to sleep. Now."

"Yessir, your majesty--ow!"

A third voice spoke. "You're both being loud. Go to sleep now."

"Right. 'Night, Haku, Gaara.

"Good night, Naruto."

"Good night, Naruto-kun, Gaara-kun."

* * *

.

On a ledge in the cold night air, a man with long, black hair scribbled something furiously on a scroll. He looked up in annoyance as the eagle screeched at him once, and continued glaring at him in silence. He finished writing and snapped the scroll shut, shoving it at the bird.

"Take this to him, then," he muttered, the bird taking flight indignantly, ruffled at the rudeness, "I'd like to think he'll have some kind of relief for me in a week--I've been trying to locate them for months now ..."

Itachi looked at the moon and wondered briefly if Yuki suspected that he had to fake all his reports.

* * *

.

The first thing Itachi noticed was that he wasn't alone. The black eyed man opened his eyes and looked around. There were three people around him--two he knew and wanted to kill at the moment, and the other was unknown to him and therefore innocent for the time being. Itachi sat up like lightning and administered justice to the blonde hovering over his head.

**KLANGG**.

"**IIITAII**!" Naruto flew back and Gaara blocked the frying pan with a fist.

"You sleep with your head against the back of a frying pan." Itachi shrugged.

"I don't worry about people annoying me in the morning much."

Gaara looked at Naruto. "Where can I get one of those?"

Haku took the pan and hammered it a few times, almost straightening it out. He then proceeded to take out assorted plants and an animal of some sort. Naruto and Gaara opened the ramen cups that had appeared in their hands who knew when, and Itachi sat back, rather confused, as Haku made him breakfast. After taking his fill of roast rabbit, seasoned with steamed and sliced potatoes and carrots, green tea, and a very interesting salad with jasmine leaves, Itachi was feeling rather good about finding Naruto and Gaara and their new friend. He looked over at him, and Naruto grinned. "Haku, Itachi. Itachi, Haku." Itachi nodded. Haku nodded back.

"You look like a girl."

Haku nodded again. "So do you."

Naruto burst out laughing at the look of horror that flickered across Itachi's face. Gaara rolled his eyes. Haku looked confused.

"Anyway, thank you for the meal," said Itachi, looking at Haku with sincerity. Haku nodded and smiled brilliantly. "You're welcome to eat with me any time. I think you're a good person." Naruto looked at Haku with a grin. "Yeah, but you thought that Zabuza guy was good, too. Your idea of 'good' is weird, Haku-chan."

Haku shrugged. "This guy doesn't have a acne complex." Naruto burst out laughing again. Gaara didn't even bother to waste the energy rolling his eyes.

Itachi waited for silence and then looked at Naruto and Gaara. "What are you two doing? Your mission was clear and if you haven't forgotten, you were supposed to return in a year for more information. Yuki's been taking it out on me, even if he did say the assignment would last four years." Gaara and Naruto nodded. "We didn't forget--we're not done gettin' ready."

Itachi rose an eyebrow, momentarily blocking out Haku. "Getting ready?"

Naruto nodded, looking around. "Training. We were going to play with Haku but we heard that the chuunin exams are next week, so we decided to go back to the Grass country for passports and all that formal stuff." Gaara took over talking as Naruto gave him a sideways glance. "We wanted to wait until the exams were held in Konoha. Yuki will understand. Also, we have a request of you." Itachi rose an eyebrow. "I'm listening." Gaara looked at Naruto and then back to Itachi. "You need three people to a team. We were going to ask Haku to join, but we want you to come."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "I have my own missions."

Haku looked up and put his two cents in. "You can do whatever you want as long as you're present for the tests. I bet they couldn't keep you in Konoha even if they wanted to." Itachi glanced over at Haku. "Hn. And you don't want to participate?"

The boy shrugged. "What's the title of chuunin mean to me?"

Itachi saw his point; he knew that they weren't aiming for the title of chuunin anyway, and so he lacked motivation. Naruto looked at the boy with a sad frown. "But--but you're not gonna leave, right?" Haku looked at his sad face and giggled. "Naruto-kun, I wouldn't leave for the world. I'll be in the crowd, and you can give me a signal when you want me to join up with you." Gaara reached into his vest and pulled out a tiny pin.

"Put it in your hair," he said, "one of us will send out a wavelength and it'll alert you." Haku took the pin and re-did his hair, the oriental piece of wood sticking sideways in a tight bun that held his long black locks. Haku stood up, taking his woven basket and unused herbs with him. The other boys watched him go until he disappeared in a whirl of leaves. Gaara was the first to speak.

"We knew you were trying to find us." Itachi looked over at them sharply.

"How?" _/Can I tell him? Can I?/_

_/**Not if you want to keep it a surprise, kit**./_

_/I LOVE surprises! What's a good lie?/_ Naruto wrinkled his nose and put his hands behind his head. "We smelled you--you smell like lavender. It was easy to tell where you were because there isn't a lot of that where we stayed and whenever you got close we could tell a half-mile away." It was pretty convincing, concerning the fact that both raccoons and foxes had pretty decent sense of smell, and Itachi didn't push the matter. He stood up.

"Let's get those passports. Grass country is a day's run from here." Naruto jumped up after Itachi, and Gaara thought to himself as they followed the older man.

_'If we lead, it would only take half an hour.'_

_**/And risk him finding out anything else? Think again, kiddo./**_

_**'Shut up and follow the Uchiha, fox**._' Naruto and Gaara looked at each other. Was Shukaku actually standing up for Gaara?

_**/I thought you didn't like your host?/**_

_**'Shut up.'**_

They followed Itachi into the morning, a long road ahead of them.

* * *

Iruka looked at the window, smiling. Kakashi was peeling an apple, his copy of Icha Icha Paradise on the table with a bookmark in place, his eye cast on the apple and his thoughts far, far away. What was wrong with the chuunin? Iruka had only recently become like this. He'd known the boy from the time he graduated from the gennin class when Gai took him for a girl and asked him out for the first time. Kakashi recalled that Iruka had slapped him and told him in a high-pitched voice that he wasn't a boy, and Gai had struck a good-guy pose in front of him, and earned himself another slap. After that, Kakashi and Iruka got along very good, considering they both got into the habit of whacking Gai whenever he pulled his weirdness. Iruka was a very well-developed shinobi and accomplished teacher, possibly the most famous of the instructors for pre-gennins Kakashi knew. All his students loved him and he wondered as the knife slid the skin off of the apple if Iruka knew quite how famous he was with the parents. He jumped as Iruka tugged at his shirt.

"Hey," the voice that called out was soft and Kakashi could almost hear his smile, "hey. I'm gonna tell you a secret, but you can't tell anyone else." Kakashi sighed. "Ok," he whispered, putting the kunai down and offering Iruka the peeled apple, "what is it?" Iruka smiled over the top of the apple as he took it, nibbling a bit off the top.

"He's coming back." Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "Who?" Iruka looked at the window.

"Naruto. And he's got a friend. Isn't that sweet?"

Kakashi looked at Iruka. "Naruto? Who--" he froze, his body shuddering as it recalled the crushing power of the sand that had wrapped around him, grasping, crushing ... he jerked back to reality as Iruka continued talking. "... boy, about his age. I think his name was 'Gaara', isn't that a nice name? I hope Naruto's happy with him--" Kakashi grabbed his shoulders and forced Iruka to meet his gaze.  
"Iruka! Tell me that name!" Iruka smiled brightly. "It-It was Gaara, Kakashi-kun. What else can I help you with?" Kakashi's eye searched Iruka's dull but smiling face. "How do you ... why do you think that they're coming here?" Iruka laughed and pointed at the window, as if it was obvious.

"I see them."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "What?! And you haven't told me?" Iruka shrugged and took another bite of the apple. "You didn't want to know." He smiled and looked at the window. "They're coming, Kakashi. They're coming back."

Before Kakashi could get more out of him, he jerked and slumped down, unconscious.

* * *

. Just to let you know, Iruka's not really 'seeing' them, he's imagining them, but ironically, they are coming back, aren't they? if you have any questions, please ask in a review. It took me hours to get this edited right, and it still has lots of flaws. This has taken me so long ... I'm sorry!


	5. Chuunin part1

CHAPTER 5: CHUUNIN EXAM PART1

Thank you to those of you who review--I think that the four of you are awesome. I'll try not to update the same thing repeatidly. Maybe it's just a problem with the computers I use. They're screwed and I don't have internet at home. :) I think this'll only last fifteen chapters, if I can finish it. It's hard balancing school and fics. Ok, enough of me, you want to read, don't you? (I certinally hope you do) go ahead, I'll see you at the bottom of the page.

These chapters might take a while because of a few things:

1. I gotta do research on the things I wanna do ...

2. I gotta find correct spellings of last names or everything's confusing

3. I gotta take finals at my school. (exams for high school--hohoho ...)

**Warnings:** light NaruGaa, light SasuNeji, others coming along. I'll release final parings somewhere along the way.

**PAGE BREAK (I will be doing this since the page break doesn't work on my computer)**

Naruto smiled widely. /_It' so quiet here._/

Gaara sat on his left, Itachi to his right, and a pile of dead ANBU lay behind them in the forest.

"It's nice," said Gaara softly, looking out over the small village they were would soon be in. Itachi looked at both of them and said nothing. All three leaned back against the tree that they sat under, watching the clouds pass in the sky just above them. It didn't alarm any of them that the entire trunk was soaked a cherry red, nor did it make any difference that their hands were still partially covered in this blood, because none of it was their own.

Itachi thought about the passed week. They'd gone to the Grass and gotten their passports--that had been a simple matter of manipulation and faux tales. They'd left the country with minor casualties and had made it all the way to Konoha's borders. There, they met up with a few hunter-nins who recognized Itachi and from then on it had been a rather boring time disappearing away from the hunter-nins and leading them the wrong way, all the way back to where they sat now, piled on top of each other, quite dead. Itachi pushed his bangs out of his eyes and watched Naruto and Gaara quietly. Naruto stared straight up at the skies, eyes glazed, and a smile plastered to his face. Even Gaara, who'd seened unalterablly stoic since the first day they'd met, was in the same blissfully ignorant state, and managed the smallest of half-smiles as he stared up into the brilliance of the blue that lay over them. Itachi looked at the sky and found no such captivation. He was much more content to deal with reality and the manipulation of others.

Itachi was ready to get up and reach Konoha, but there really was no point in rushing--Naruto and Gaara looked as if they couldn't be moved for the world at the moment, so Itachi leaned back against the tree and shut his eyes.

_/They're pretty./_

'_They're not pretty ...'_

_/I think they're pretty./_

'_.. they're beautiful. They're more than pretty.'_

_/Hm... Ok. Yeah. That's good. That's a good word, beautiful. Yeah .../_

Both boys continued to stare at the heavens, drawn to the blue like moth to a flame.

**PAGE BREAK**

When Itachi woke again, there was no one next to him, but he could feel someone's chakara above his head in the tree. He rolled to the side and looked up, staring into Haku's dark eyes. "Ohayou, sleepy," said Haku with a smile, holding out a rice ball to Itachi's face, "eat this. It's good." Itachi took the proffered ball and nibbled on it before taking a proper chunk out, relishing the flavor that flooded his mouth. Just because he made money and could afford to go to the fancy restaurants didn't mean that Itachi couldn't tell a good cook when he met one. He looked at the rice ball and looked back up at Haku.

The former mist nin giggled and handed another rice ball to Itachi, who had finished the first and silently began to dematerialize the second. Once he'd finished, he asked Haku where Naruto and Gaara had gotten to. Haku gave him another rice ball and told the older boy they'd gone to explore. Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"The village?" Haku giggled again. "They made some interesting faces when I asked if they were going 'back there,' so they must mean the forest around it."

Itachi frowned. "I hope they don't make too much trouble. The exams don't start until this afternoon." He looked at the village from under the tree, and then stuffed his third rice ball in his mouth.

**PAGE BREAK**

Naruto and Gaara were currently at Konoha's gates, walking sideways along the wall. "I don't want us caught, Naruto," called Gaara a few paces behind him. Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I know! I wanna cool off. There's gotta be some spring around here outside the village--"

The two boys kept walking, the trees around them thinning out just ahead and Naruto hopped off of the wall, jumping on the trees instead. Naruto flew through the air, jumping from branch to branch. Gaara was a breath behind him. They went a few more yards and stopped as Naruto's smile widened in relief.

"Here's one!"

Gaara unstrapped his gourd from his back as they vaulted off the trees into the air and then plummeted back to earth, each landing with a resounding 'spllash' in the lake just outside the village. Naruto let out a huge air bubble and it rocketed towards the surface. Gaara watched Naruto swim under the water, rolling his eyes when Naruto began to look around for air to breath and dragged him by the collar to the surface, both coming up with a shake of their heads and looking at each other.

"You're soaked."

"We could've at least taken off some clothes before jumping in."

"What's the fun in that?" Gaara splashed him and swam towards shore. "Staying dry, baka," he muttered as he got out and went to his sand. Naruto made a face and dunked back under water.

While Naruto was under, someone came down from the walls and glared at Gaara. "You--kid!" Gaara didn't look up. 'Kid' wasn't his name, so he didn't need to look up. "Hey, kid! You! With the red hair!" Gaara still played with his sand, trying to ignore the other man's shouts. The man got so mad that he started walking over to him. "Hey, kid, you deaf? Are you lost? I've been calling--" He was five feet away when the sand jumped out of Gaara's hands and smothered him. Gaara didn't even need to make the hand motions any more--the sand crushed him and let the blood seep into the ground. Gaara looked at the sand and then brought it back over to him to clean out some of the nasty dark red liquids. Naruto came up for air and Gaara called him over.

"What happened to that guy?"

"Nothing. Get rid of him." Naruto shrugged. "You could've done it," he said over the roar of flames that had begun to eat away at the man's body, "I don't like fire jutsus."

"Not my fault--" muttered Gaara as Naruto shook off, a towel appearing in his hands, "--someone decided they wanted to see the Snow country. You over-practiced the jutsu." Naruto pouted. "But I love the snow! It's so pretty! It's not my fault it's freezing!" Gaara rolled his eyes. "You think everything is pretty." Naruto grinned and finished drying off.

"Yup! Everything's pretty if you look real hard!" Gaara looked at Naruto. "You're pretty." Naruto smiled. "Really? You're pretty, too." Gaara would have risen an inquisitive eyebrow, but he had none, and settled for making the same facial expression.

"Well, you have pretty hair--" Naruto ran a hand through it quickly as Gaara batted him away, "--you have soft skin, and you have really pretty eyes. Yeah, you're pretty!" Gaara looked at the ashes that were left of the man. "I like 'handsome.'"

Naruto blinked. "What's that?"

Gaara shrugged. "I don't know. It's just a word I heard somewhere. I don't really care."

Neither thought about it a little and decided that 'pretty' was much better since they both understood it, and got up to go find Itachi and Haku.

**PAGE BREAK**

"**WOW**!"

Naruto's gaze rushed along Konoha's streets, eyes wide with surprise and amazement at the number of people all headed towards one building.

"Wow, wow, wow!!! Look at all these people!" Gaara grabbed his arm before he could run off into the huge crowds. "Naruto--hey," he growled softly, "calm down." Itachi and Haku looked at the building where they were headed to.

"Seems like you'll have some competition in the exams," observed the fourth member of their party as they shot out of the crowd and instead traveled on the roof tops. For a few blocks they went undetected. Itachi looked around as they hurdled over a tall, broad building rooftop. "We have company," he muttered as three people a few buildings over noticed them and started approaching. Naruto and Gaara kept their pace but Itachi nodded at them both and disappeared. Gaara knew that he had to keep his identity a secret as long as possible for this to work. The three approaching them sped up to catch Naruto and Gaara and finally made it to the point where they all leapt in time with each other, going from house to house at the same time as the two mysterious boys. They didn't stop or slack in their pace until they reached the building and had landed in the middle of a crowd of people. Naruto turned to get a good look at the three people. There were two boys and a girl. The girl's hair was in buns and she wore a chinese white shirt. The first boy had a bowl-cut and very owl-like eyes that studied them cautiously. The other boy had white eyes and a Konoha headband around his forehead. Gaara crossed his arms. All three gennins were panting in front of them and neither he or Naruto were breathing hard. The boy with white eyes caught his breath and looked at the two with a suspicious glare. "W-who … are you?"

Naruto opened his mouth. _/**Don't start**./ _Naruto shut his mouth.

Gaara looked at the boy. "Who're **you**?" Neji frowned and was about to retort when the boy with a bowl-cut spoke up. "Oh, you're from the Grass country!" Naruto nodded, glancing down at the band around his shoulder. Neji's look changed. "Ah. I'm sorry for my behavior," he said, looking at Gaara and Naruto.

/_They're weird,_/ thought Naruto, eyeing the boy with a bowl cut with something that bordered on amusement. Gaara's eyes narrowed. '_They're not worth our time. Let's go_.' Gaara looked at Neji and nodded. "We're going to find our teammate." Naruto waved as Gaara dragged him off by the arm. "Bye! Aa, I'm Naruto and this is Gaara ..." he was out of sight before anything else could reach their ears.

Lee and Tenten looked at Neji, who was gazing after the redhead with a silent stare. Tenten giggled, snapping him out of his trance. "Someone intimidating Neji," she said in a sing-song tone, "I wonder who he is to make you so quiet like that?" Winking at him, she ran off before he could take a swipe at her. Lee smiled, blushing, and launched into a loud and lengthy speech about love and youth, to which Neji responded by promptly disappearing into the crowd.

Gaara and Naruto found the older member of their team sitting by a wall. "Get up, get up, I wanna go inside!"

Itachi looked up at them. "Sush. Most people here can't see the genjutsu they've placed on the door as clear as you, and they'll get suspicious if you break it without trying." Gaara looked around at the gennin who were beginning to get restless. "Naruto," he whispered, nudging him and nodding at the restless crowd. Naruto looked at Itachi.

"_Pleeeeeeeeease_?" Itachi stood up and pulled his hat down to hide his face. "Hurry up. I don't want to draw more attention than you will."

Naruto looked at him. "Why don't you use henage?"

Itachi slid a glance Sasuke's way, then eyed Neji and Hinata, and grunted. "That would cause more suspicions." He pulled out an ANBU mask and slid it onto his face in case anyone managed to see under the hat, and they made their way towards the front of the crowd.

"Please, let us through!"

Tenten approached the door and was harshly punched away by the boy guarding the door. "You fools! No one'll ever make chuunins out of this crowd. You should all spare yourselves the trouble and shame and apply next year when you're half-ready." He sneered down at the fallen girl as she rose again, Lee helping her up as Naruto and Gaara walked out from the crowd and towards the door. Lee and Tenten looked up, recognizing the two as Neji's eyes narrowed.

"I don't know about you," said Naruto as he walked up to the door, "but I wouldn't try that again."

The boy who'd knocked the girl back drew back his fist and thrust it at Naruto's face. Naruto tilted his head to the side and the fist went past him, and he brought his head down on the boy's and there was a crack like two stones being brought together.

Hinata gasped. Tenten felt the pulse. Kiba jumped--something like a shock wave shot at them and everyone else backed away as Naruto opened his eyes wide and stared straight at the procotor with swirling red orbs with black slits down the middle like an abyss. The boy tore his gaze away and slumped to the floor, yowling and holding his head. Naruto grinned. Sasuke glared at the blonde. '_He looks like someone, but I can't ... remember who. And who is he really? A second ago, his eyes ... were blue ...'_ While the crowds were distracted, Gaara walked through the doors as if they were a shadow.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Next to him, Neji frowned. Lee's brow furrowed and he felt fire rise in his chest. He would defeat Neji, but first he would defeat the blonde and the red head from the grass team. They would become stepping stones to defeating Neji. Itachi walked through the door next and Naruto grinned at the crowd, falling backwards through the door and it popped like a bubble, revealing another room and a staircase. The two procrotors looked angry. "Who the ..." The three 'gennins' that passed through the door walked up the stairs as the rest of the crowd shifted nervously forwards to follow them, creeping after them in something like awe and fear and anger all at once. They reached the top of the stairs and went one way quickly so that the rest of the gennin missed them going the other way and instead followed some signs that pointed the other direction. Naruto and Gaara walked past Itachi, who hid himself at the chakara signal of another person approaching from behind.

"Wait!" The two boys turned to see Lee coming towards them. "Wait! My name is Rock Lee! I wish to spar with you," he proclaimed, thrusting a finger at Naruto. Naruto blinked and looked over at Gaara.

"Can I fight him?"

"Don't. Let's get this over with."

The blonde pouted. "But that's no fun ..." Gaara rolled his eyes and looked at Naruto's. The deep blue abysses swirled with bottled passion for a fight, and Gaara shook his head. "**I'll** spar you. Later. Come with us. We can eat ramen." Naruto lit up like a christmas tree, the lust to do battle completely washed away by the prospect of food. "RAMEN! Yaaay!" Lee looked at Naruto's retreating back. "Please?" Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Gomen, Lee! Maybe we'll face each other during the tests." Naruto turned away and hung off of Gaara's shoulders, chanting, "Ramen, ramen, ramen!!!" Lee frowned. It was against his better judgment, but he waited until Naruto seemed unaware and charged. Sasuke and Neji were standing on the ledge above with Hinata, Sakura and Tenten when Lee charged at Naruto. Sasuke looked down at the blur and jumped at the railing.

"What is Lee do--"

Naruto heard a loud thump behind him and wondered what happened. His eyes widened at the wall of sand surrounding his back. /_Gaara_?/ The red-haired boy looked just as stunned as Naruto.

"I ... didn't do that," muttered Gaara slowly, Itachi's eyes narrowing and Naruto looking at the sand in confusion.

_/**The sand acted on its own,**/ _concluded Kyuubi curiously, glancing over at Gaara, who was holding his gourd in surprise. Gaara then glared at Lee, who was staring at them on the other side of the wall of sand. His shocked face was revealed as the sand crumbled back into a pulsing blob, slinking back into the gourd. Gaara slammed the cork back in place and leered at the shaken gennin. "Go." he hissed, "Now."

Lee blinked at the command and nodded, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Itachi and Naruto looked at each other. "This hasn't happen before," muttered Gaara as they stared at his gourd.

"Are you sure?" asked Itachi, "I thought Naruto said you could control the sand."

Gaara shook his head. "Not unless I'm using chakara. You would know if I am." Itachi nodded. "What about the jounin and Hokage?" Gaara shrugged. "Can't tell. Possibly not." Itachi looked at them both with a serious frown.

"Naruto, Gaara, you should use your demon's energy sparingly. Too much might cause more attention to us than we've already drawn." The two boys agreed and Naruto looked around. "Hey! It's Sas--" Gaara put a hand over his mouth, a wave of bloodlust rising to his chest, directed at Sasuke, that felt like a thousand drums. He looked at Itachi and the group of three disappeared.

Sasuke jumped. "There it is again," he muttered. Neji looked over at him. "There's what? Who was Lee fighting?" Sasuke looked at Neji and then over at Tenten, Hinata, Sakura and Lee, who were whispering about something of their own fancy. He lowered his voice. "Someone here keeps radiating bloodlust, and I can tell it's directed at me, but they disappear whenever I try to locate them." Neji's eyes narrowed. "Many people here know the Uchiha name and that you're the last of the line. You have to be careful during this test." Sasuke nodded. "I know."

"Ah, excuse me?"

All six gennin looked up to see a girl with long black hair in a bun and a pale face. She had no headband and looked hardly their age. "Could you tell me if you've seen some people walk by? There was a tall one, one with red hair and one with blonde spiky hair ..." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Who are you? Why should we tell you? Do you know who they are?" Neji shoved Sasuke. "Sasuke! That's a foreigner you're talking to! And she's a girl! Show her some respect, why don't you?" The 'girl' giggled.

Hinata walked forwards, twidling her fingers but trying to sound confident in herself. "I k-know them; th-they walked by n-not too long ago. Lee-kun tried to f-fight one of them earlier, but f-failed. D-Do you kn-know their names?"

The girl nodded. "I do, but to tell them to complete strangers is rather odd to me. By the way, my name's Haku."

Lee's eyes flipped to flaming-cherri-O style and he posed in front of Haku. "Oh, Haku-chan! What a sweet name! How fair your skin, how lovely your eyes! Would you go on a date with me?" Haku put a hand to her mouth.

"Perhaps. I'll think about it." Lee's eyes turned into hearts and he fainted. Sasuke made a face and looked at the girl as Sakura stood up.

"This is Hyuuga Hinata, the green blob over there is Lee, this is Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji, and I'm Haruno Sakura," said the girl with pink hair, pointing to each one in turn, "We're taking the chuunin exams. Are you participating, Haku-san?" Haku shook her head.

"No, I'm just here to cheer on my favorite team, that I am."

Sasuke looked at Haku with a hint of irritation and Haku turned his way. "Is something wrong, Sasuke-san?" asked Haku softly, smiling at the surprised boy's look, "I haven't done anything to deserve that glare, no I haven't." Sakura giggled as Sasuke flushed and looked at the ground. "... sorry," he muttered under his breath. Haku beamed. "Forgiven. Anyway, could you tell me which way those three went? It's so hard following them all the time, they seem to move like the shadows of a cloud ..." Hinata pointed the way and Haku turned to go. Sasuke called her name as she began to walk and she stopped, turning to face Sasuke with a smile. His eye twitched. '_That smile ... is so fake_.'

"You're not just another villager. You're shinobi--or used to be. Tell me how you know the boy with yellow hair!" Haku blinked. "Hm... you mean Naruto-kun?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, that one ..."

Haku shrugged. "I don't know much about him. He's like a dice with surprises on each side, every time I see him, he's going higher and higher, and _she's just like a maze, where all of the walls are continually changed_ ..." Haku walked off, not finishing her answer, singing to herself. She stopped and called out to Lee, who sprung up from his faint. "Yes, Haku, my dearest, my love!!!" Haku giggled.

"I'm terribly sorry, Lee-kun. I can't go out with you--I'm not gay."

Lee's jaw dropped. Sakura's jaw dropped. Neji's eyes went as wide as Lee's and Sasuke's did the same. Haku giggled, winking at the boys, and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Neji's eye twitched as red colored his face like a rose and he dragged Tenten and Lee away from team 7 towards the exam room. Sasuke shook his head and turned to his own teammates. "Come on. The exams start soon."

**PAGE BREAK**

Kakashi met them at the door. "Good to see you all made it in one piece," he said, reading a copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Sakura made a face at his book and Hinata blushed. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't read those books, pervert."

Kakashi shrugged. "Why not? You brats can go inside now. Don't die." He winked at them and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke pushed open the doors and they walked over to see Ino and Shino and Kiba and the rest of the gennins talking quietly in a corner with a taller man, whose name was Kabuto.

Team seven fell into the crowd like the icing on a cake. Sakura and Ino made quick conversation, whispering and giggling with each other. Kiba and Hinata hit it off, talking and playing with Akamaru as the little dog yipped and barked happily. Sasuke and Neji talked quietly with Lee about the people in the room worth fighting. "So far," muttered Sasuke to himself, "only Neji and Lee and perhaps that guy with the sand. But other than that, the rest of this group are weaklings." Lee looked around. "I'm not so sure. That team from the Grass seems like something to consider." Sasuke snorted. "I'm only interested in the one carrying the gourd." He glared around the room and found Gaara, and the red haired boy simply averted his gaze to look at his teammates. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Look at them, acting all secretive over there," muttered Neji in irritation, "not even bothering to size up who they'll be up against. All though, we should probably wait and see what their techniques are. If we battle them without knowing anything about their skill level, we could be in serious trouble ..." Lee nodded and made a fist. 'I will defeat you, Naruto-kun,' he thought to himself, glancing over at the group. Neji put a hand to his chin. "I still don't understand how they kept up with us, though. It's as if they didn't even try. I didn't detect or see any of their chakara being used, so they must have trained intensely in taijutsu like Lee." He growled in frustration. "If only we knew _more_ about that team."

Kabuto perked up at the talk of information. "If you want some info about fighters, I can help," he said. Sasuke turned to see him. "We need information on the team that broke the genjutsu illusion earlier."

Kabuto thought and then smacked his fist into his palm, something registering in his mind, taking out his stack of nincards. "Do you know their names?" Sasuke shook his head. "Only one. Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yes?"

All of them jumped. Naruto was standing in between Neji and Lee, looking over their shoulders at the cards. They jumped away from him, bumping into other people. Sakura and Ino turned to see what was going on and squealed.

"Oooh, who's the blonde?" asked Ino in a high-pitched voice, "He's way cute!" Sakura frowned. "Hey, I saw him first, I want to talk to him!"

Ino growled and stood in front of him. "Fat chance, broad-brow!"

"Like he's gonna talk to you, pig-face!"

Naruto looked back and forth between the two bickering girls and looked at Sasuke. "They're noisy," he said bluntly. Sasuke stared at the blonde and nodded dumbly. Naruto grinned and looked down at Kabuto.

"Well? Ain't'cha gonna lookit the cards? Why can't I see em? Are you sayin' bad things about me behind my back?" Sasuke shook his head. "No."

"Good. Then lemme see them, too!" Kabuto nodded, trying to shake off the bloodlust that someone was directing at him from behind, and pulled out three nin-info cards. He put the rest away and flipped over the first one.

"This one's nearly blank," he said gruffly, "it's on that tall one. They're all from grass--"

"No they're not," said Sasuke. "Naruto's from Konoha." Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Huhn? No I'm not." Sasuke looked at him. "You--"

Kabuto ignored them and flipped over the other card. "This one's on the other boy with red hair. He's from Grass too."

"Gaara." Everyone looked to Neji, who was frowning at the unwanted attention, "His name is Gaara. Remember?" Sasuke nodded. "Aa." Kabuto shrugged and changed the question mark in the name slot to 'Gaara'. "Hm. Gennin from age ten, no missions, no special abilities, no special fields ... pretty pathetic." Lee looked up and then frowned. "You can add that gourd," he said. Neji and Sasuke nodded, still curious to figure out how Lee's kick was stopped by the wall of sand. Kabuto scribbled something onto the card and flipped over the last one. This showed Naruto and a few words.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Grass gennin. I've got you as weakest on the team, Naruto-san, because I don't know anything about you." Naruto looked at the three cards. "Can I hold 'em for a sec, then?" Kabuto nodded and Naruto took them, eyeing the offending objects with a gleam in his eye.

_/**Weakest, huh?**/ _

_/I'm way ahead of you, fox .../ _

The second they left Kabuto's fingertips fire bled from Naruto's fingertips and ate away at the cards, leaving only ash as they fell from his hands. Kabuto jumped up. "Hey--!!!" Naruto grinned wildly and disappeared. The flames still licked the ashes and then they too disappeared. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared down at the pile of ash.

"I guess he's not that weak," he said grudgingly, and looked around for the person who'd sent another wave of bloodlust at them, this time stronger than before. "Someone wants to kill me, I know it," he whispered to Neji. Neji shook his head. "Don't think about it. We're going to start the test soon. The examiners will take care of anyone who steps out of line."

There was a huge amount of smoke and the proctors appeared, all glaring at the gennin the had to test. Ibiki took his time glaring around before barking at them loudly, directing them to the right testing room. All the gennins slunk in under the stern gazes of the procotors. Gaara and Itachi shot each other looks as they went their separate ways; Naruto sitting in the middle of the room, Gaara in the far left corner, Itachi near the back of the room. He pulled his straw hat down over his face and slid his ANBU mask on underneath it. He promptly fell into a light sleep. He would wake up if anything came within three feet of his face, a window which provided plenty of time to react to anything. There was some more movement and someone sat down beside him. Itachi didn't even bother waking up. He slept on, unconcerned as Kabuto and Sasuke took their seats next to him. Ibiki stood at the front of the room, glaring around. He gave the orders and the rules, and then wrote them on the board.

"The tenth question will be given in fifty minutes after now. You have one hour. BEGIN!"

The room jumped and pencils started scratching. Gaara and Naruto put their heads on their desks. _/I hate tests,_/ moaned Naruto in his head. /_They're booooooring! I wanna have some fun!_/ Gaara shut his eyes and turned his paper back over. '_Wake me up in thirty minutes_,' he said to Shukaku, grumbling. He then proceeded to fall asleep.

Naruto told the same to Kyuubi, and none of them were concerned about what went on around them. No one could be cheating off of them because their papers were blank.

**PAGE BREAK**

Sasuke glanced around. '_I hope this isn't a waste of time,_' he thought as he activated his shiringan and began to copy the movements of one boy a few rows ahead of him. He watched as the words unraveled on his paper and he grinned. He'd chosen correctly. '_Great. Now all I have to do is keep writing._' Sasuke focused on writing. Next to him, Kabuto toyed with the few answers that he knew and then waited to see if his teammates were done and ready to relay the rest to him. Tenten and Lee played with mirrors while Neji looked and spotted a boy with a chuunin vest on under his clothes. Hinata was looking around for a minute to find a person to spy on when she saw Neji activating his Byakugan and decided to wait for a few minutes until he finished. If their Byakugan were active at the same time, it might rise the suspicion of the instructors. She looked around the room, and turned to glance at the boy on her left curiously. He looked like he was asleep. She made sure she wasn't being observed before prodding him awake. The boy shifted and then lifted his head, looking into Hinata's eyes. She gasped as their gazes met directly for the first time, a wave of blue crashing into her world. She blushed.

"Hey--are you all right?" she whispered under her breath. The blonde blinked up at her and nodded. "Yup," he said without moving his lips, "'m ok." Hinata was surprised--he spoke softly and clearly but his lips didn't move at all. She looked at his paper. "Your test--it's blank," she whispered. The bright-blue eyes moved from Hinata to the test back to Hinata.

"Hm? So?" Hinata made small motions with her hands as she whispered nervously. "W-well, I th-I thought that... well, if you needed help, I'd help you." The blonde smiled at her. "But your test's blank, too," he pointed out quietly, and Hinata blushed. "B-But I can g-get t-the right answers," she said softly, "what's your name?" The boy looked a few rows to his left and then at the clock.

"Naruto," he whispered as he put his head back down. "Wake me up in fifteen minutes, 'kay?"

With that, he fell asleep, leaving Hinata to watch the clock and wait for Neji to finish copying answers.

Sakura finally finished filling in her test and glanced up at the clock. '_Great! I have a whole fifteen minutes to check my work. I'll be ...'_ She paused, rubbing at her eye. "Wha ..." She rubbed at her eyes, trying to see, but something was keeping them shut. '_Hey_,' shouted Inner Sakura, '_What is this?! I can't see!!!_' Gaara looked at her paper, starting with the first question, and quickly memorized the first few answers before something trying to get in the back of the girl's mind made him look up.

Ino glared and folded her hands again. '_Art of the Valentine_!' She slumped down and projected herself at Sakura but something blocked her out and sent her spiraling back to her own body. She snapped up again and jerked. Pausing to catch her breath, Ino glared at Sakura's back and thought hard. '_What the hell is this? I've never been blocked by anyone but members of my family ... Sakura couldn't have stopped me from getting in.._.' She shook her head as Sakura continued rubbing her eyes. Ino looked down at Sakura, and then towards Kiba and Shino, who were answering the questions on their own quite well. Akamaru winked at her and she winked back, taking the signal as a guesture, telling her to try just one more time. She folded her hands one more time as Gaara cut off his third eye, Sakura finally getting the sand out of her eye, and concentrated with more power than the first two times and this time Sakura fell to her technique. Ino memorized the answers before anyone could catch her and as she left Sakura's body, she doodled a little heart on Sakura's paper, then returned to her body. Grinning, she wrote the answers back on her paper and heard Akamaru's soft yipping. She nodded at the little dog and it peeked at her answers, relaying one or two to Kiba, who winked at her from where he sat. She looked up at the spot that appeared on her paper and then realized that it was a bug. She lowered her head and it buzzed at her, landing on her nose and then wandering off to look at the rest of her paper. She watched it fly back to Shino, who looked her way and then looked back at his own paper quickly.

Ino looked at the clock. Ten minutes left. Time for the final question.

Ibiki tapped chalk against the board, Itachi looking up and staring bored at the man. He already knew the answers to each question, and wrote them down in five seconds flat before turning his paper over again and hiding the answers. One of the proctors on the side narrowed his eyes and whispered to the person next to him. Both looked to Ibiki and the man cleared his throat, making everyone stop writing. Naruto lifted his head up as Hinata nudged him. Gaara woke to the growling of his demon captive, looking up lazily at the board and then picking up his pencil to scribble in the last few answers he'd memorized from Sakura's paper. Ibiki glared around the room.

"This is it! Prepare yourselves for the 10th question ..." Itachi looked down at Naruto and Gaara, who were looking at their test papers and possibly comparing answers. He glanced back at Ibiki as the tension built up in the room. 'All this emotion is annoying me,' he thought as his eye twitched. Next to him, Sasuke was staring ahead at the man with a dull and boredly confident glare.

"Before we get to the actual question, I'm going to add a new rule."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Neji and Lee glanced at each other and then looked back at the man with suspicious gazes. "This rule is absolute." He glared around. "First ... you must choose whether to accept or reject this question!" Sasuke tensed. _'Why would he give us the choice to fail ourselves?'_ Sakura piped up, drawing a few of the shuddering heads her way. "Ch-choose? What happens if someone doesn't accept the question?" Ibiki didn't waste time in answering her.

"If you reject the question and don't even try to answer it, you'll lose all your points and fail! You and both your teammates will fail along with you." There was an uproar in the room as several ninjas jumped to their feet.

"What?!"

"That's stupid!"

"Why would any of us reject it then?!"

"Because of the other rule," said Ibiki calmly. Sakura frowned, sweat gathering on her brow. _'Come on! What more can you add?'_ "If you try to answer the question and you get it wrong, you'll never be permitted to apply for the chuunin exams again. Ever." The room shifted and fell silent when Kiba slammed his hand on the table, shouting.

"You can't be serious! There are people here who've sat for the chuunin exams more than once already! We know there are!"

Ibiki shot a glare at him. "Tough luck, kid. I wasn't making the rules last year. I am now. I've been upfront with you. You can take a failing grade and try again later. Anyone with doubts should be smart and reject the question now. Come back and apply next year and the year after that."

Sakura's mind was racing. _'Talk about a no-win situation. If even one member of a cell rejects the question, then all three team members fail for a year. If anyone accepts the question and can't answer it he'll be stuck a junior for the rest of his life! Heads you win, tails we lose! No sane person could make that kind of choice!'_

Ibiki was talking again, the only voice in the room of tension. "Ready? Let's begin. Anyone who chooses not to accept should raise their hands. Once their numbers have been confirmed, they will leave the room." Sakura and Sasuke and Hinata found each other in the room and flashed looks of agreement. All of them looked ahead at Ibiki with confidence, sure that they could answer whatever came at them. Neji and Lee crossed their arms, Tenten shutting her eyes so she wouldn't see if any of her friends gave themselves up.

Naruto laughed at the people around him in his mind. _/this is too easy. No one'll drop out just because of some stupid rule, right?/_ The Kyuubi growled in its cage. **_/Don't be so sure. I know you can smell the fear of the people in this room. They don't have the full concept of this man's question. Those who fail themselves will do us a favor./_** Naruto pouted. _/Well, they're stupid.Exactally why you'll let them leave without interfering./_

Someone stood up and rejected the question. His team followed him grumpily out the door. Seconds later, a third stood, and a fourth, until nine teams had failed because of the fear and cowardliness that bubbled up and make them raise their hands.

/_Gaara_?/ The sand demon almost jumped at the sudden voice in the back of his head but quietly replied. '_Hn_.'

/_When's this gonna be over? I wanna get the mission done and go home. It's gonna snow in Snow country soon._/ Gaara nodded. '_I know. We'll visit it after this test. It'll end if someone points out what this 'question' is really about.' _Naruto frowned. _'If no one else, you should point the obvious answer out, Naruto.'_

_/**Don't do it,**/_ growled the Kyuubi softly. /_Why not?_/ Naruto felt a faint jostling in his stomach as the demon tried to reason with him._ /**Kiddo, I'm warning you, this will get harder to do if they think you're hidin' something--let them eliminate the weak prey ...**_/ The blonde shinobi argued silently with his captive until another team jumped and left the room, disqualified for another year. _/I'm gonna do it_,/ thought Naruto finally, _/I'm tired of waiting!_/ Kyuubi growled and then scoffed. /_**Whatever. I don't know why I even care. Stupid kit ...**/_ But the affection was still there, albeit underneath his deep growling. Naruto giggled in spite of the tense air surrounding them. Hinata looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you ok?" she asked in a hushed voice, "This isn't something to be laughing about!"

Naruto rose his hand. Hinata blushed. "N-Naruto, wait!"

Ibiki noticed the boy with bright yellow hair raise his hand, a smile plastered onto his face with shut slit eyes. He looked around, ready to confirm the team as dropouts, when the boy opened his eyes and grinned widely.

"This question is a trick." Half the room looked at him and Ibiki's eyes widened in surprise as the boy continued. "This is just a choice between two really hard options. They're both difficult and dangerous, and nasty, no-win situations." He put his hands behind his head and leaned his chair back, looking at the ceiling. A few rows over, Gaara opened his eyes and whispered, but in the silent room, his voice echoed as if he was speaking at an auidable volume.

"If anyone got to be chuunins, they would be assigned to stead vital information, knowing nothing about the skills, deployment, or military preparedness of our foes. They might have to cross territories that have been heavily armed or trapped. They could be risking getting caught and facing unthinkable torture by an enemy. They would even be risking their lives on the skills they've learned this far."

The proctors of the room were staring at Naruto and Gaara with amazement as the former looked back at Ibiki and grinned. "Of course, all of us still here would choose to accept that mission, knowing that there're always missions we can't decline. You can't fool us. The people who left can't deal with that kind of situation, and don't deserve to be chuunin." He sat back up and stuck his tongue out. Gaara crossed his arms and Itachi shook his head.

Ibiki looked startled that someone had figured out his insoluble tenth question's logic, and made some discreet hand signals to a nearby proctor. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

_/Gaara, they're makin' those hand-thingies._/ Gaara looked at the proctor in time to see the signal for agreement and then they stopped. '_Did you catch what they said?_' Naruto shook his head and didn't answer.

Next to him, Hinata was in amazement that the boy next to her had been so calm. It was as if he had someone in the back of his head, giving him the confidence to stand through the storm of confusion and laugh at it all. She was shaken by his soft-spoken words as everyone else in the room, and also empowered at his soft show of courage, which was, unbeknownst to her, also complete innocence of the actual matter. _/**You might as well start spewing my whole life story,**/ _grumbled the Kyuubi, _/**I hate it when you speak after I've told you not to. The Konoha jounin will suspect us now. They know of me already.**/ _Naruto blinked and looked around the room. /_They do, huh_? _Sounds like fun!/_

Sasuke cursed and asked himself why he hadn't thought of it before. Itachi rolled his eyes. He had been a jounin. He knew what Ibiki had planned to do from the beginning when he explained the rules. It was obvious that it was a test of their information-gathering skills. Even the dullest gennin had to have figured it out the way that he explained it. '_He practically gave the answers to them. Far too many connections could be made to that obvious conclusion from his original explination.'_

Naruto and Gaara looked at the window and Gaara flicked a hand, his gourd disappearing. Ibiki looked up in time to see the sand stretch up and cover the entire window, something red seeping through it and hardening it instantly, and there was a loud **THUMP** as something struck the outside and failed to enter through the hardened sand, falling to the streets bellow. He stared at the wall of sand with awe as the proctors that had been in front of it jumped away in confusion. Sasuke's eyes widened and Itachi stood up, annoyed. Naruto and Gaara got up out of their seats against the instructions of the proctors for the gennin to remain seated to go look at the window. As Naruto and Gaara approached, the sand and redness separated.

Itachi almost slapped himself in the face at their bold actions. Naruto was absorbing his chakara back and Gaara formed the gourd again, latching it onto his back. Then the two went up to the window and looked out of it at the woman on the street, cursing and twitching.

They looked at each other in something like amusement before a stern hand grabbed the scruff of their necks and pulled them away from the window. Naruto felt himself crouch, his knees and elbows drawn to his chest like a cat as his neck was gripped firmly but painlessly. Gaara's eyes narrowed at the slight pain in his neck, following the grip away from the window. Itachi turned towards Ibiki, holding both boys by their necks, Gaara's hands twitching and Naruto looking rather unhappy.

"Sorry about my teammates. They're _immature_."

Ibiki was too startled to speak and the door opened, a woman staggering in, groaning and bleeding.

"What the hell happened?" she asked as a proctor caught her in mid-fall, her left leg looking broken and blood seeping from her hip, "I tried to come in through the window but I didn't realize that it was a wall ..."

"Lady Anko, you need to see a doctor! This is a serious wound--"

She swatted at the speaking proctor, annoyed. "Shut yer trap! I'm the second chief examination officer for the chuunin selections! I need to see these ingrates off to their next test!" Ibiki made a face.

"Anko, I insist that you see someone. They won't be very intimidated by someone with a broken leg and a fractured hip." Anko flushed and shouted at him before wincing and falling again, Ibiki ordering that she be taken to medical nins immediately. He looked at Naruto and Gaara, who were whispering to themselves, unaware of the nervous and angry and confused and intimidated and bloodthirsty gazes upon their backs. He coughed to get their attention.

"Since Lady Anko won't be able to escort you to the testing arena, we have a substitute prepared to take her place. Get in here," he said gruffly to the door on his right, and as Anko was escorted out, a familiar jounin walked through the door, hand on the back of his neck, half-sighing.

"Interesting. I suppose I'll have to do the introductions. Well, I'm Hayate Kakashi, and I'm the replacement for Mitarashi Anko." He stopped and looked around. "Ibiki, you passed almost thirty teams!"

Ibiki shrugged. "Someone pointed out that my 'question' wasn't really a question and everyone who hadn't raised their hand to quit stayed behind." Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"I'll talk to you later," he muttered to Ibiki, "In the mean time, you lot follow me." Kakashi led the group of gennins out the window and over the rooftops of Konoha to a fenced-off area of trees.

"This is the arena for the second exam--Training Ground 44. Also known as the Forest of Death." He pulled out a book. Gaara's eye twitched. Naruto looked at the tittle and made a face. _/... Icha Icha Paradise--eeeeeww./_ "You're about to find out first hand why they call this the 'forest of death.'" Naruto giggled. Gaara rolled his eyes. It was hard to take the man seriously with that **book** out.

"Hoo, yay! _Finally_, fun and games!"

Kakashi slid a lazy eye that way. Anko had told him to be stern with the recruits. He imagined that she would have done something dramatic to correct the boy's attitude, but he merely shrugged and looked at Naruto over the top of his book. "Loud, cocky little boys like you are first to go." He had a kunai in his hands before anyone could blink and it was flying towards Naruto. Gaara rose an invisible eyebrow as Naruto smiled and tilted his head to the left, avoiding contact as the kunai sunk into the ground with a 'shuuk' a few feet behind him. Kakashi's eye widened momentarily as Naruto moved his head back and was whacked on the head by his redheaded teammate. Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Ok. Looks like you're not all talk after all ... Naruto." Naruto blinked and looked at the man. Gaara glared. "I remember him," he muttered, his sand swirling angrily. Kakashi remembered the sand's grip and moved on quickly.

"Before we begin the second exam, there's something I have to hand out." He whipped out a pile of consent forms. The ninjas looked at each other with the same expression; confusion. Kakashi winked at them. "They're consent forms. Everyone has to sign them. We want all the details covered before the first deaths occur. Sign before you go in so I can't be held liable. You wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you?"

There were several similar looks of embarrassment exchanged among the gennin who knew him as he pointed to a station over his shoulder. "I'll explain what this exam entails, then you can sign ..."

Naruto looked around with glee. Here, he could play lots of games with Gaara. Gaara stared up at the huge forest and hid a smirk. Itachi whispered to both of them, "I want this done as quickly as possible. We must reach the location they've given us as soon as possible." The two boys nodded as they walked towards the gates.

Passing a team, Gaara caught the kunai that was aimed for Naruto's neck and looked at it for a moment in mock interest before flinging it back at the only other grass ninjas that had passed. The man couldn't react fast enough and caught it in his arm. Blood dripped down his shoulder but he didn't make a move to retrieve the knife--a glare from his teammate froze him in mid grunt. "We'll get revenge for you, soon," whispered the man with a snicker. Gaara turned away and followed Naruto and Itachi into the forest, disappearing as the silver-haired jounin announced the start of the second exam.

**PAGE BREAK**

'_**They're beginning to react on their own.**' _Kyuubi paced its cell, glaring at the bars.

_/**Exactly. Soon, it'll be time. They're already sixteen.**/_

'_**And they started talking with us when they were seven ...**'_ Shukaku did a very un-demon like thing; it sighed, as if worn out ... exhausted by something. Kyuubi shot it a sharp thought, and Shukaku grunted, glowering around almost regretfully.

'_**To think that our hosts would have even this much power ... you know how this must end.'**_

_/**If it is the only way, then there is nothing we can do but let them go on and delay it as long as possible. You know as well as I do that we must protect our hosts, but there will come such a time as when they will be protecting us. When this happens, you know what our blood requires of us.**/_

The badger was silent. Kyuubi frisked its tails with a snarl. _/**It must be done. They will grow, and you know what we must do when the Time comes.**/ _

'_**I know!'**_ it snapped back, startling the demon fox at its hasty response, '_**I know. I simply--I didn't think ... after all my years ... that I would ever come to that ...**' _Shukaku, in spite of itself, actually sounded pensive for a moment. Its bloodlust aside, it was a very simple creature, and rather interesting to talk to. But Kyuubi had never before had this kind of conversation in so much depth with the badger, and it was better done now than later. Kyuubi steeled its tone as it barked again.

_/**Shukaku, you are a demon. It is the fate of all to end that way ... but in all of our power, we will keep them well and content until that Time comes.**/ _For another stretch, the badger was silent, lost in its own thoughts. Kyuubi wondered mockingly if it was going soft. A harsh growl from the other youkai was enough to tell her that she was wrong.

'_**Agreed. They will live and be happy, even to the Dawn of the Day.**'_

The demons fell silent as their hosts entered the forest.

**PAGE BREAK**

.end chapter

**PAGE BREAK**

Yes, they are 16. And yes, I am still puzzling over this thing. It's hard to write. If you are interested in the stuff mentioned above, I won't tell ya. It's not important right now. what is imperteant is that everyone gets OFF of this SasuNaru buzz. I just see it all over the place--sasunaru fic, sasunaru, sasunaru, ARRG!!!! It's all I see! Well, only one sided sasunaru here, if at all! !!! I'm done there. If you want sasunaru, go read the only other story I've got up. (it's sorta slow)

The next chapter is longer, but just a bit. It's been real hard writin' these things, but at least I try to update! (last time I wrote a story I just left everything to sit and rot.)

That aside, I wanna say that I love my reviewers. Sorry that I keep selecting everyone as 'fav author' but sometimes I just forget who's who and click everything so I'm SURE that you're all there. the group of you who keep reviewing for me are awesome. I'm gonna go and fix up some stuff for chapter six! later.


	6. Chuunin part2

**CHAPTER 6: Chuunin Exams; part 2**

Thanks to all who review; sorry for being late! It's the middle of exams (in real life) and in this chapter, we'll move on to the prelims pretty quickly. We also see Naru-chan and Gaa-chan working around Orochimaru for me because he sucks and I'm sorry for offending any who likes him but he just doesn't work in my story plot! :) Considering it's 3:17 AM, I suppose I might not be fresh of mind right now, but that's ok! We'll all be happier once the story starts writing itself!

**WARNINGS**: some Neji and Sasuke OOC, but I don't really know how to make them otherwise. I've tried and tried to make them more like in the manga, but with Naruto absent from most of their childhood, it was kinda hard--:p. A little ItachiOOC, and perhaps some tiny, tiny bits of NejiSasu. And a little humor here and there, if one sees it that way. I can never be funny when I try.

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in like DAYS but you know, the end of the year (winter) exams got to me. I think I flunked at least two of them but I'm sure that I aced my science. :) Lucky me! But back to the story ...

* * *

"Part two of the chuunin exams begins NOW!"

The teams shot off from their respective gates, each shooting off in different directions but first hiding themselves among the trees and foliage of the forest, providing lots of camouflage for all the teams.

Team eight slowed down, and Kiba talked to the other two. "Hey, Ino, Shino, the tower's where everyone's going anyway, so we might as well set traps as close to there as possible--" Akamaru sniffed and looked up. Kiba followed his gaze, and Ino smirked. "Found them already?" Shino and Kiba waited as something fell down in the trees, and there was a strangled cry as something fell from the sky, and Kiba grinned as three ninjas fell from the trees bleeding with the leeches shuddering on their backs and shoulders. Kiba smirked. "The flying leeches of Konoha can sense perspiration and body heat and fling themselves en masse! If you can't get them off in five minutes, you're done. One team down!" The net scooped them up and the leeches that were still alive finished off the team in an instant. Ino sliced the net down with a pair of kunai and Shino searched their bags for a scroll. He looked up, holding up an Earth scroll.

Kiba and Ino groaned. "That's the same one we already have!"

Shino shrugged. "We'll try again," he said softly as they left the dead bodies under piles of leaves and went off towards the tower.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura turned around at the sound of rustling bushes. "Hinata-chan, are you feeling better now?" "Yes, thanks Sakura!" Sasuke tensed as she came closer and he dealt her a blow to the face, knocking her back several feet and into a tree trunk. Sakura screamed. "Sasuke-kun! What're you doing?!" Sasuke glared at the purple-haired girl. "Who are you and where's the real Hinata?" The purple-haired girl blinked tears from her eyes.

"I'm right here, you jerk! Gosh, that really hurt ..." Sasuke narrowed his eyes and Sakura frowned.

"Wait a minute--I see. You're not Hinata. You've got your shuriken holster on your left--Hinata-chan is right-handed, and Hinata-chan stutters, and would never call anyone a 'jerk'. And now, your eyes ..." She smirked, winking at the fake. "Gottcha."

She pulled out a kunai as the boy revealed his appearance and demanded their scroll. Sasuke took his own kunai and the boy charged. Sakura dove right, Sasuke leapt above the boy and formed several seals, fire style, and five blasts of fire spewed from between his fingers, causing the boy to perform some fancy movements in order to avoid getting caught in the blasts. Sakura found Hinata under a heavy branch, bound and gagged, and cut her free, and the two of them shot into the fray. Sakura threw two kunai wide and one high, and Hinata waited half a second before throwing hers straight, and the boy dodged right into the path of Hinata's knife, grunting and falling to the ground as it struck between the collarbone and shoulder. Sasuke caught up with him and slammed a fist into his head, knocking him unconscious. Sakura and Hinata joined him, each receiving a short congratulations as Sasuke searched the boy for a scroll. He smirked and brought out a heaven scroll.

"Perfect--just what we needed."

Sakura and Hinata celebrated to themselves as Sasuke thought about what just transpired. He called the two girls and they followed him away from the mist-nin to a clearing. There they sat and Sasuke addressed them both in a low voice, so no one close might hear them.

"Hey--we need to remember that we can't trust each other so blindly when we get separated."

Sakura nodded. "It could easily end up like this time. But what should we do?" Sasuke looked at both of his teammates. "I thought about that while we got here. The safest thing to do is have a password. We might have to change it before we get to the tower, so be ready to regroup if you think we need a new password. Here's what we'll do ..." He spoke softly and both girls stared at him oddly.

"_That's_ our password?" Sasuke nodded, looking at both his teammates.

Hinata blushed. "I d-don't ... m-must it be that?"

Sakura blushed and patted Hinata's back. "Don't worry--Sasuke just wants to make sure that we will both remember it."

Hinata looked at the ground. "B-But ..."

Hinata gasped as a huge gust of wind that nearly blew them away. An explosion followed, and the three jumped away to safety. A fire caught hold of a tree and scorched it until the leaves and bark were burnt black. The wind came again and the flames died away. Sasuke waited until the wind was gone and then got out. He looked around and saw Sakura. She gasped and smiled at him. "Sasu--"

Sasuke jumped away from her, drawing a kunai and falling into a defensive stance mechanically. "Stop there! What's the password, _Sakura_?" Sakura put her hands on her hips.

" '_Brazen breasts are best with booze_.'" Sasuke shook his head. "Good. Where's Hinata."

"I'm right here!" Two identical voices sprung up and two Hinatas looked at each other, blushing. "I'm Hinata!" Sakura looked back and forth.

"Tell me the password, then," she said, looking each in the eye.

The Hinata on the right blushed and twiddled with her fingers. "Password--I, um ... I--"

The one on the left blushed furiously but stuttered out, "B-brazen breasts ... are b-best with b-booze." Sakura nodded and slid Sasuke an approving glance. Sasuke stepped forwards, eyes shifting to shiringan.

The Hinata on the right jumped as Sasuke slammed his fist into the other person, throwing her back onto the ground with a grunt. In a puff of smoke, a grass nin with a straw hat was staring at them with a grin. "Ooh, you got me. What gave me away?"

The real Hinata blushed and looked at Sasuke. "H-How did you know?!? I didn't say th-the password!" Sakura patted her back.

"I knew that you wouldn't say that, even if you needed to get our trust," she said with a smile. Sasuke grinned. "And I knew you weren't Hinata because she'd never repeat something like that. That's why I chose it as a password." The man snickered.

"Ooh, I see. This is going to be more fun than I thought!" He brought his hands to his mouth and made a seal, and a huge gust of air shot at the real Hinata, who screamed and was thrown into the forest. "We'll fight to the death!" Sakura screamed her teammate's name before the illusion slammed into her like a ton of bricks.

* * *

In the forest, Hinata sat up, rubbing her backside. She sat up quickly, remembering that she'd left her team with a dangerous opponent. Staggering to her feet, she looked around with her Byakugan and located them a few yards away beyond several tall trees, and began to walk towards them when a giant snake slithered out of the tree tops. She gasped and stared at it silently, taking a slow step backwards. The snake hissed at her curiously, its tongue flicking out to smell the fear and it advanced on her, inch by inch. Hinata stared up at the giant mass of snake and stood her ground, hands ready to perform the substitute jutsu when an immense jaw opened to scoop her up. She froze, fear gripping her, jutsu forgotten and she screamed.

"Please don't do that," muttered a boy's voice, "I dislike loud noises."

Hinata stared up into the eyebrow less face of the redheaded boy, whose calm face brought something like amazement to Hinata as he calmly looked at something behind her.

The snake.

She turned around and stared at the snake's dead body, its mouth filled with sand, eyes wide and glazed in Death's grim grasp. Hinata jumped and turned her head away from the sight. Gaara turned around to look at her when the sand blocked his view. He jumped and looked at the sand in confusion. Had she actually tried to attack him? Forcing the sand to retreat, he met Hinata's amazed and embarassed gaze. "I-I ..." She blushed and lowered her kunai knife.

"I-I'm so s-sorry ... I j-just--" She looked so pathetic, sitting on the ground with a lost, frightened expression, and Gaara's eye twitched. He was about to say something sharp to reprimand her when he remembered that girls were different than Naruto, the only other human he'd shared a life with for the past years. He shook his head and tried to think of a way to quiet her and get her to talk at the same time. '_I'm so glad that Naruto was a boy,'_ thought Gaara as he shook his head. "Hey--hush. Do you have the scroll?"

Hinata shook her head. "Sasuke-kun--oh--" She covered her mouth, gasping. "--No, I mean--" Gaara took her arm gently, helping her up from the ground. "Shush. Let's go find your team."

Hinata looked at him with wide eyes and then pulled out a kunai, narrowing her eyes. "I'll follow if you lead." Gaara shrugged. "Fine."

He paused, taking in his surroundings, and then continued walking. Hinata followed him cautiously and at a distance, monitoring his every move. Gaara collected the sand from the snake back, forming the gourd on his back again. They walked in silence as Hinata followed Gaara towards her teammates.

* * *

Sasuke yelped, sending several kunai through theroof of the snake's mouth, shredding it to pieces. He landed on a tree, flinching as the skin cracked and the man with a long tongue extracted himself from the snake skin. "For shame ... letting your guard down like that. Stay on your toes like a good prey should. It makes the chase so much more _rewarding_ for the predator." With that, he snaked around the tree limp and towards Sasuke when a volley of shuriken and kunai cut him off, and a voice snickered from above them where a boy with blonde hair sat, perched, tossing a kunai lazily in his hands. "Sorry, guys, but I don't know your password!" Sakura looked up at him. "Who are you?" Sasuke was staring at him.

"Naruto," the blonde grinned, "at your service!"

Sasuke frowned and looked to Sakura. "Shit," he muttered, "If I don't do something ... and this is all I can think of ..." He growled, and deactivated his shiringan. Naruto looked at him with confusion. "Hey," he called, "you stopped your spinny eyes." Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Get out of here! He's too strong. And you--" the man looked up, "--you want our scroll? Take it and leave!" He chucked the scroll out and the man grinned as it came his way. Then, something shot his way and Naruto was standing between them, holding the scroll in his hands.

"Thanks!" he said brightly to Sasuke, slipping the scroll in his pocket.

Sasuke and Sakura jumped to their feet. "Hey! That's our scroll!" Naruto giggled as the man behind him rose up like a silent snake, waiting for the moment to strike.

"Oh, no, it's not--it's mine now. It's been mine for some time. Besides, Sasuke, you're being stupid--you're being a coward. Don't you use that brain in your head?" he asked, grinning and tapping his forehead. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What the hell?" Naruto looked up over his own shoulder at the man, who was lurking into the open space where he was more visible but in better attacking range.

"Hey, you!" The man looked up at Naruto. "Hm?" Naruto grinned. "What'd'ya think? Itsn't it obvious that Sasuke-baka isn't playing this game right?" The man blinked at him in surprise and then chuckled. "A game, is it?" Naruto nodded and looked back to Sasuke and Sakura with a kunai in his hand.

"Think 'bout it," he said, spreading his arms, "if he took your scroll, what reason would this guy have to let you two go?" Sasuke's eyes widened. "I... I didn't ..." Naruto grinned at him. "Right--you _didn't_. I wonder if you'd have lasted past today if I hadn't shown up?"

Sasuke glared at the boy with a wave of embarrassed rage. "You ..."

"Oh, but you know he's right, Sasuke-kun," said the snaky man, nipping his thumb and pulling back a sleeve to reveal a seal on his arm, "Why bargain when I can simply kill you and take the scroll?" He cackled and a huge gust of air surrounded the ground under him while Naruto looked to his left and welcomed Gaara and Hinata to the battle, and introduced them to 'Snaky-guy, Sasuke-teme, and Sakura-chan.' Hinata jumped to assist her teammates when the giant snake appeared. Team seven froze at the sight of such a monstrous snake and The man grinned, sending the snake at the trio. Naruto looked to Gaara, thoughts transpiring between them as swiftly as one could while still being able to comprehend them.

_/Save them./_

'_Why?'_

_/I wanna play with 'em later. Please?/_

'_But I wanna play with the snake ...'_

_/You an' me can play with Itachi when we get back!/_

'_**If you're going to do anything, now would be good.**'_

'_Right.'_

Gaara vaulted off the ledge and landed gracefully in front of the frozen trio, sand erupting from his back into an inpenatrable half-circle around them, shutting off most light. He put some chakara into his eyes and looked around. Hinata had slumped to the ground, hands over her head. Sakura was covering Hinata's shaking body. Sasuke's eyes were shut, wincing and waiting for the death blow. Gaara's eye twitched. Naruto wanted him to save these ...

"... weaklings."

They all jumped, snapping their eyes open and staring into the face of their savior. Hinata gasped. "G-Gaara-san?" Gaara looked at them and narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know why he wanted me to save you," muttered the sand boy, holding his hand out and cupping a palmful of flame, the light spreading through the small confines of his sand-barrier, "you're cowards and fools."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I dare you to say that again."

Gaara looked at Sasuke out of the corner of his eyes. "You're alive at the moment because of who ...?" Sasuke looked around and noticed the sand barrier, tapping it with a fist. It was like tapping cement. He turned to the boy with a flare. "Who are you? What have you done? Where's the man with the snake? Where's Naruto?" Gaara looked at the ceiling.

"Outside."

Sakura turned to face Gaara. "What? You left him out there with that maniac? Your own teammate?"

Gaara looked at the walls. "Naruto doesn't... " Shukaku laughed in the back of Gaara's mind. '_**Don't start going soft now,**'_ it growled, '_**you'll need to start burying that part of you sooner than you think ...**'_ Gaara's face became a cloud of frustrated emotions for a moment as the demon's thoughts echoed in his mind before he turned to Sakura. "What are you to your teammates?"

Sakura blinked at the question and answered, "I'm a friend and companion. Why?" Gaara looked at the ground and Hinata stood up. "Are you friends with Naruto?" Gaara shrugged. "I think so." Hinata smiled brightly.

"You want to know if he thinks the same, don't you?"

Gaara's eyes widened and he met her gaze. "...hn," he grunted, looking away, Hinata smiling at the light blush on his cheeks. "I think that Naruto is your very good friend," said Hinata brightly, "just like Sakura and Sasuke-kun are my very close friends."

Gaara told them to shut their eyes as the sand began to crumble, falling away at his command. Sasuke squinted in the brilliant light of the forest that surrounded them. His eyes searched around and spotted the figure of a blonde sitting on top of a huge snake carcass, grinning and gripping the dark earth scroll in his mouth.

"Oi, 'aara, 'ook! I got'da 'other 'un!" Gaara disappeared and reappeared next to Naruto, taking the scroll out of his mouth and taking a heaven scroll out of his own shirt. He chucked them down at Sasuke, who caught them in surprise. "What's this for?"

Naruto grinned. "Get to the tower and we'll tell ya! It'll be a race, just like at home! Gaara, you wanna play, too?" Gaara nodded, crouching down. Sasuke watched in something like awe as Naruto and Gaara disappeared into the forest like black shadows of a bird across the trees, vanishing into nothing. Sakura scanned the area.

"That man's gone," she said in relief, "and the snake's dead. We have the scrolls, so we can get to the tower now!" Hinata smiled and sighed in relief. "Phew. Now w-we can get out of t-this forest ... "

Sasuke nodded and they shot off in the direction of the tower. He would get his answers there.

* * *

Itachi looked around. He heard the sound of several feet landing and he slowed, stopping and listening further.

'_Someone's here … two teams, six people …_'

He got closer, looking around and spotting several ninja on the ground. He recognized one as his brother. Sneering, he sat back and watched as he struggled against the antics of a team from sound. '_That boy disgraces the Uchiha name,_' thought Itachi,_ 'He doesn't deserve to_ live _…' _

With a soft sigh of irritation, Itachi stood and disappeared.

* * *

Sasuke cursed. The three sound ninjas were closing in, kunai in hand. They had attacked them out of nowhere and it had taken all of Sasuke's skill to keep himself alive as they went all out against him, three to one in an unfair battle. Sakura and Hinata tried to distract them but one wave of air had sent them reeling to the ground. Zaku held his hands up and Sasuke dodged a cannon of air that was headed straight for him, leveling the tree he had been backed up against. As he flipped away, a kunai caught the edge of his shoulder and he bit his lip to keep from crying out as he rolled over, clutching the wounded limb. The sound nins stopped, yards away from him, with smirks on their faces.

"You're weaker than we thought," taunted Dosu, "I heard that the Uchiha were supposed to be genius warriors! I guess the gene skipped out on you." Sasuke glowered at them, a deep growl rumbling up from his throat.

"Leave him alone!" shouted Sakura as she jumped up from the bushes. "Sasuke-kun's just as smart as any genius—he's smarter than any gennin and he's more than enough to take you out!" Hinata nodded. "Y-yes! We have total faith in Sasuke-kun!" Dosu smirked and Zaku pulled back his sleeves, and Sasuke barely avoided another cannon of air that knocked over the trees that towered behind him. "Guuh--!" Sakura jumped up. "Sasuke!"

Zaku laughed. "You idiots! Sasuke-_this_, Sasuke-_that_! You just talk and talk about this guy, and he's really weak! He can't even beat a girl on our team, there's no way that he could win against all three of us!"

Sasuke hissed and performed several seals, and spat jumping tongues of flame from his hands. Zaku held out his hands and a funnel of air shot them back at Sasuke, who angrily dodged his own attack. The boy from sound laughed as Sasuke avoided singeing his hair and instead got his leg toasted. The Uchiha cried out and fell down, grasping the white-hot wound as blood began to seep from a sear in his leg. Zaku held his hands out and got ready for another attack.

"You're weak, Sasuke-_kun_. I can freely control supersonic sound waves and air pressure. I can even crush rocks. Our techniques are superior to yours, and you're going to be crushed by us!" He grinned and shot at Sasuke, who yelled in pain as Zaku punched his opponent's jaw with a resounding thunk as he vanished into a log.

The sound nin jumped back in surprise. "Shit!! Kawarimi no jutsu?" He looked up and was thrown against a tree as Sasuke's foot slammed into his jaw. Zaku sat up, rubbing his cheek. "Such a basic jutsu ... I wasn't prepared--I'd thought that we were going up against a genius!" Sasuke glared at them and then smirked.

"Geniuses know that even the most advanced techniques can be thwarted by the basics from which they evolved."

Zaku twitched and Kin, the girl, charged. Sasuke felt his leg fail him and he fell to a knee, eyes wide as he faced her attack head on, a fist sending him against a tree and three kunai pinning his shirt sleeves to the wood. He yelled in pain as she slammed a foot to his diaphragm and blood welled up in his throat, painting her boot red and black. She grinned, digging her foot in his chest and then pulled back as Dosu and Zaku advanced.

Sakura and Hinata jumped up, landing in front of their teammate to the surprise of the advancing nins. "Don't come any closer!" Hinata activated her Byakugan and dropped into a defensive style she didn't know, as if the blood of her ancestors demanded that she rise to the occasion and save her teammate. "S-stand down or I'll end this painfully!"

Zaku grinned and held his hands out. "You're weak! You're a girl! I can beat you easily. That loser of an Uchiha was no match for me, and as soon as you're gone, I can kill him and we'll be done with this. So get to the side like a good little girl before I kill you, too!" Dosu took out a kunai and licked it, eyeing Sakura. "Or would you rather die fighting? Trying for an honorable death? Hardly. You'd be remembered only as fools who died to protect the weakest of the Uchiha clan. That weakling isn't worth protecting. We'll kill him once you're gone!"

"He is weak, but I can't let you kill him," said a voice from behind the trio.

Zaku turned around in time to meet the blade in the mouth, his head falling to the floor in two pieces. Dosu's eyes widened in time to see the blade slice his arms and legs off, and then his head. Kin froze as her teammates literally fell apart around her, and she froze as a man caught her collar. "W-what do you want? Have our scroll, take it! Please!" She shoved an 'earth' scroll at the man, who took it and pocketed it without so much as glancing at it. He glared down at the girl and narrowed his eyes, looking over at Sasuke.

"Tell Orochimaru that he can stop going for Sasuke. He's not worth it." The girl flinched and Sasuke glared.

"Who are you to know anything about me?" Itachi didn't even spare him a glance.

"If you can't find out on your own, then you don't deserve to know."

With that, he disappeared. Sakura looked at Dosu and Zaku's dead bodies, and then turned to the shell-shocked Kin. "You should go," said Sakura softly, "You should get out of here. Someone should come and escort you out of the exams …" The girl nodded and shot away, looking slightly shaken. Sasuke sat back, sighing. Hinata looked to him.

"So, w-what did he m-mean?" Sakura and Sasuke turned to her with a surprised glance. "I-I mean, h-he sounded like he knew y-you ... a little …" She blushed and Sakura turned to face Sasuke seriously. "I know what she's talking about—that guy sounded like he knew you. Did you recognize him? I haven't seen him before …" Sasuke bit his thumb and turned away.

"No. I've never seen him before. Obviously he only knows me by reputation. But his voice sounded familiar." Sakura frowned. "Well … do you have any …" She stopped herself, and Hinata looked at the ground. Sasuke glanced around in confusion. "What?" Sakura shook her head, trying to smile. "Never mind! It was a silly idea. Do you had any idea how close we are to the..."

* * *

Itachi leered at his younger brother through the trees. "I give him years, and all he does is brood and think. If feelings were power, he still wouldn't hold a candle to me." Naruto shrugged. "So? I think this is fun--he's so wrong and he looks so surprised when we correct him!"

Gaara shoved his teammates and looked at the ground. "Is there anyone else you care about? Because I want **real** fun." Itachi looked at Naruto in suspicion, and recieved a grin. "We'll find you in the morning, Itachi-chan. See ya later!" They disappeared. Itachi shook his head. Those two still surprised him.

"Even though they have control over their demons, and at such an age ... they still submit to their bloodlust."

Itachi observed the canopy around him as an eagle screeched.

Naruto looked at the skies as they ran through the forest. "Hey, Gaara, let's go find some more scrolls," said the blue-eyed boy over the wind.

The red head slowed down and they fell to the forest floor, waiting until the last moment to turn around and land silently. Naruto frowned, sniffing the air, and then slid Gaara a smile. "How boring ..." Behind them, a trio of gennin were underneath very good camouflage. But something wasn't right. Naruto brushed the leaves off of one of their heads, and pointed to one of them. Gaara slammed a kunai into the head of the girl, and the body disappeared altogether. Naruto and Gaara looked up bordly as a log slammed into them, the crash resounding through the forest.

Lee stepped out from behind the tree, looking at the spot where the blonde and redhead had crouched and frowned. '_Something doesn't feel right.'_ Suddenly, he twitched and fell to the ground. Gaara gently took his fingers away from Lee's neck, and searched him for the scroll. "This one's not carrying it," said Gaara, pulling away and hiding his body with leaves, "let's keep moving." Naruto grinned and waved at Lee's unconscious body as he shot off after Gaara.

It wasn't long before they found the real Tenten, and dodged her first wave of weapons with ease. She grinned and traps went off everywhere, flinging knives, shuriken, daggers and explosive tags at the two all at once. There was a huge cloud of dust and Tenten covered her eyes. No human alive could have survive that blast. Suddenly, she jerked and fell limp. Naruto slowly lowered her to the ground, taking his hand off of her neck. "Sorry," he said as he searched her clothes for the scroll, and grinned as he slipped it from her waistband, "I'll take this." Gaara's eyes narrowed and his sand leapt off of his back, blocking the kick that came at the back of his head, Neji's short intake of breath sounding behind him. "You." He turned to face the wide-eyed Hyuuga with a soft glare.

"Back off," he hissed, "or die." Neji growled at the threat. "You'll be the one to die. Return the scroll and I'll let you go."

Naruto grinned and slid the scroll into his jacket. "I don't think you'll take it from me. You can't catch me!" He laughed and shot into the canopy, leaves shifting and hiding his path of retreat.

Neji spun to follow his movements with the Byakugan but a hand gripped his neck and he fell to his knees to prevent being knocked out by the gentle grip. Gaara pushed him down further and further until Neji was against the ground, arms folded and tucked under his body. He lay flat on his hands, shuddering at the submissive position he was in. Any movement would cause Gaara to knock him out, and if he didn't move, he would probably explode from embarrassment from being so weak.

He grit his teeth and spat out, "Get off of me!"

Gaara smirked. He... he liked this feeling. This new power over the white-eyed boy whose pride hurt so much from Gaara's powerful hold. He adjusted his grip and made the boy grunt as his face was nearly pushed into the dirt.

"... why should I?"

Neji's eyes widened as a hand pressed a pressure point on his back. He winced and shied away from the pain, cursing as his body portrayed its natural weakness to his enemy. _'But he must be good to have known where to press,'_ thought Neji fiercely, trying to retain some fragment of control in his mind, '_I'm not in a good position.'_ He felt a surge of rage at his own weakness and Gaara, as if sensing the boy's desperation, pressed another point and brought Neji back to the reality that he was trapped like a rat. Neji gasped as fingers bit harshly into his skin, and embarrassment flushed across his face as the grip trembled.

"Stop struggling," whispered Gaara, "I'll crush you."

Neji winced and clamped his mouth shut. The only thing that it was emitting right now were soft cries of pain. Something had changed in Gaara's voice. Something that made him shudder. The prospect of death lurked in the background as the sand crept out of the gourd on his back, cold, jade eyes glaring down at him. Still, his mind rushed to think of a way to escape. With his hands trapped, he couldn't make any seals, and pressed against the ground, he was practically powerless. He cursed himself for not thinking of a solution for this situation sooner, and felt fingers press by his neck, and this time they pushed into the skin with nails that bit down and drew blood. Neji let out a sharp cry before biting his lip. Gaara brought the finger to his mouth and tasted the blood, and then stood up. Neji fell against the dirt, letting out a breath and looking up at Gaara weakly. His body was wracked with blind fury at his weakness and his hands were twitching to rip and tear and kill the person who made him seem so weak and he leapt at Gaara, but the redhead had disappeared already, gone from his sight. Neji cursed loudly and slammed his fist into a tree. Then, his mask fell away and his experience came back at full-blast.

Death. He'd been an inch away from that icy nothingness of oblivion. He knew he was being irrational but something about that boy--Gaara--Neji shuddered as he thought of the flame-red hair and icy jade orbs that had flashed down at him with a gleam that had stilled his breath and his blood.

The tone of his voice had promised death.

Neji shook against the ground, unable to move at all. It had been so close. He'd been so close to being asleep forever ... it was something he wouldn't soon forget. But it was gone, fading, and Neji felt some of his breath come back to him. Breathe. Right. In and out, deep breath. He got to his feet and set off about waking Lee and Tenten.

Gaara met Naruto in the forest, holding the tattered remains of a damaged scroll. Gaara gave him a look. Naruto pouted. "They didn't like me and tried to take the scroll when we met up. One of the boys let out some fire and it got singed." One of the bodies on the floor grinned and coughed up blood. "Y-you won't pass now ... your efforts were in v-vain ..." Naruto blinked and the burnt scroll disappeared. "No they weren't," he said, pulling out the scroll he'd hid before the boy had gotten to it with his fire, "I got the scroll! I win!" The boy jerked and fell to the floor, blood seeping out his mouth and coloring the soil.

Gaara glanced over at Naruto and they shared a similar gaze before shooting off into the night with similar blood-thirsty smirks.

The moon would be full tonight.

* * *

Neji sat by the river. Lee and Tenten looked up as someone approached them.

"Hey," said the boy, "Can I talk to him for a minute?" The two nodded, looking at the Hyuuga with worried gazes. "Be careful," whispered Tenten, "he's really taking this badly." Lee nodded solmnly. "Please bring my teammate back to normal, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke nodded. "I'll try. Hinata and Sakura are over there." The two nodded and walked away, leaving Neji with Sasuke. The black haired Uchiha sighed and sat down next to his friend. "So? I'll never know why you're unhappy if you don't talk about it." Neji bit his lip. "I won't." Sasuke frowned. "You will. Come on. Once. I won't ask again if you tell me once."

"No."

"You'll tell me, or I'll cut your hair off."

"You wouldn't."

Sasuke sighed and frowned at Neji. "You're right, I probably wouldn't. I like your hair too much." Neji wrinkled his nose, frowning. "You're weird." Sasuke shrugged.

"So are you. Now tell me what happened. You're the genius rookie gennin of Konoha. You're Hyuuga Neji, age sixteen, class-A friend and you aren't afraid of anything. It can't be that bad." He rose a hand to rub Neji's neck and the moment he made contact Neji drew his knees to his chest, eyes widening and a sharp breath drawn before he went totally still. Sasuke's eyes widened and he let go quickly. Neji shuddered for a moment and then flushed furiously at his mechanical reaction, glaring at the ground. Sasuke thought for a moment and then something clicked. Angrily, he took Neji's face and forced their eyes to meet, uttering a single word.

"Who?"

Neji shook his head. "I ..."

Sasuke felt his anger subside as Neji's eyes met his, trembling and full to the brim with an emotion that was beyond fear. Sasuke bit his own lip, and then pulled Neji into a hug. The white-eyed boy collapsed into his embrace and shuddered, on the edge of crying, something he hadn't done in years. Sasuke did the only thing that felt right--he hugged the boy to him tighter. Neji gasped as some air was forced out of him and he gripped Sasuke's shoulders.

"I ... I was scared. For the first time ..." Sasuke began to pull away and the rush of cold seemed to steal the voice from Neji's throat. The Hyuuga shivered and words eluded his speaking them. Sasuke wrapped his arms around the boy again, and Neji felt the words slip out, almost whispering. "I was afraid that he'd kill me ... I knew that he might but he didn't ... he-he did this ..." Neji pulled down his collar so Sasuke could see the mark where his torturer had dug into him, leaving a mark where his fingers had fallen. Sasuke glowered and made a fist. "I'll kill him ... I'll kill the bastard, Neji. I swear." Neji pushed Sasuke away, eyes cast at the floor. "You can't. You don't understand ..." He rose a hand to his neck and flinched as the black-eyed boy came closer, frowning.

"If he's enough to make you ... like this--" Sasuke wiped away the liquid-gems that were forming at Neji's eyes, "--then he's probably nasty. But I swear, I'll wipe him off the face of the earth." Neji nodded, still shaky with words, and rested his head on Sasuke's shoulder as the Uchiha waited for the shaking and trembling and fear to pass. After a few seconds, he got tired and shook the other boy, trying to humor him.

"Come on, Neji. Boys don't cry." Neji sniffed and shoved Sasuke a little.

"Shut up. I can cry as much as I want. Real men cry."

Sasuke made a face. "I've never seen a real man cry before." Neji managed a grin.

"That's because you don't **know** any real men--all the men you do know are flaming gay."

Sasuke jumped and swatted at the now laughing boy who almost fell into the river with his crazy dodge. Sasuke flushed and glowered at him. "Well, you must be better if you can make remarks like that. Get off your sorry ass, let's go back to our teams." Neji looked up at him and their gazes caught. The look that they shared was a battle that Sasuke lost and he was dragged back down to sit with Neji.

"Hey," muttered the black-haired boy as Neji sat in front of him, "what do you want?" Neji sat between his legs and grinned. "I want a kiss, loser. Hey, stop laughing, I just want to sit here. It's nice to see a friendly face during the exams." Sasuke batted his ears.

"Then I want you to stop moping around. We both have teams to get back to, and your team only has three days to get another scroll. Speaking of our teams, they'll probably lose all faith in our leadership abilities if they find us sitting here like this." Neji shrugged. "Shut up. I don't care what they think." Sasuke nodded absentmindidly and put his arms around Neji's waist, and the other boy leaned into the embrace. They watched the empty forest as the trees shifted and Sasuke looked at Neji's eyes. The taller boy was slowly calming down, his breathing pattern had finally returned to normal and the other boy's pulse against his warm fingers had slowed to the regular pitter-patter. He put his head next to Neji's and a soft smile crept onto his face.

"Why're you smiling?"

"No reason. I just felt like it."

Neji shrugged. "Ok."

For some reason, he didn't exactly feel like arguing with the boy and simply sat in the silence and they could share it without feeling the need for words or speech at all. The sun had danced halfway to the horizon before Neji asked the time. Sasuke gestured emptily for a moment and then instead of answering suggested they get back to their teams.

They helped each other up and then looked at the ground. Neither knew why they did what they did, why they never spoke when they felt like they didn't need to. Why they felt this way around one another, why whenever they left they had to look back over their shoulder to make sure that the other was still there. Neither wanted to know. Neither needed to know.

And that made it ok.

* * *

Morning brought Sasuke to his senses. He jumped, looking up. "Hinata, Sakura!" he shook them awake and both girls rubbed their eyes, jumping as they recalled where they were. They'd stopped traveling when the light disappeared and had fallen asleep three-fourths of the way there. Now, they realized how close to the tower they were. "W-We're almost there," whispered Hinata excitedly as Sasuke and Sakura got to their feet, giving her a hand up. Sakura and Hinata walked towards the sound of rushing water, and Sasuke followed them. Hinata went faster, and then jogged into a clearing, stopping suddenly and dropping to her knees. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he dashed over to Hinata's side with Sakura who stopped and put a hand over her mouth.

Here was a field of red grass and mounds with crosses.

Hinata looked away, burying her face in Sakura's shoulder. Sakura patted her back and lowered her gaze, but Sasuke observed the entire thing, shiringan active to try and see if anything was an illusion. He swallowed. "It's all real."

Sakura flinched. "There's no ... genjutsu? No illusion to just, like, throw us off into a trap?" Sasuke shook his head in horror. "This is all real ..." He took a deep breath and bent down to run his hand across the grass. Some of the blood wiped away, but some of it stayed. Sasuke's eyes widened further.

"The grass ... it's been stained with blood--literally. It's not coming off ..." Sakura was shaking badly. Hinata's sobs were soft now, scared, like they might attract the monster who did this. Sasuke looked up.

"There's some mist across this field ... I see the tower!"

He pulled Hinata and Sakura to their feet. "That's not an illusion! Come on, there's the tower! We'll inform a jounin--they'll handle whoever did this." Hinata and Sakura rose shakily.

"C-can't we g-go around it?" Sasuke shook his head. "Come on, this is the shortest path!" They went on shakily, running through the redness, some of it lashing against their legs like little cuts and they went faster, and they finally reached the tower, they turned back to look upon the field with different expressions and then turned back to the doors.

"Let's go inside."

* * *

Inside the tower, Naruto and Gaara sat with Itachi, staring at their dilemma. They had come into the tower and the instructor had told them to show him the scrolls they'd obtained. Once they finished emptying their pockets and turning out their packs, Itachi counted eleven earth scrolls and fifteen heaven. The doorman was nearly sweating a river from the amount of scrolls, and had called for a jounin. Naruto was beginning to pry at of the corners of an earth scroll when Kakashi appeared, looking around lazily.

"What's the problem?" The procrotor pointed at the neat stack of scrolls by Itachi and Gaara, and Kakashi's eyes widened. Gaara was wiping his hands on his red scarf, and Itachi was snoozing lightly with his hat tilted to hide his face. Naruto was unraveling a corner of his scroll, and then put it away when he figured that it wasn't worth the effort. The blonde blinked as he felt a gaze on him and he looked up with a smile. "Hey--it's you! I know you!" Kakashi stared at the redhead and took an insctinctive step back, then regained his posture and cleared his throat. "Tell Hokage-sama that I wish to speak with him shortly about something," whispered Kakashi to the man and he was gone in a poof of smoke. Kakashi turned back to the three.

"Well. It's been some time, Naruto." He looked at the other two. "Who're your teammates?" Naruto grinned and put his head on Gaara's shoulder. "This is Gaa-chan. He's my friend." Naruto flopped over and put his head on Itachi's shoulder.

"This is--" Gaara looked at Naruto as Itachi froze, "--another friend. He joined our team just a few days before we came here. I forget his name."

Kakashi felt himself breathe in slowly. He only barely knew this kid. Iruka had just about taken him in at the age of four. Naruto was at his house so much, and whenever he went over, Naruto was always playing and laughing and joking around. There were times when Kakashi would reprimand the little demon, but nothing harsh. He could never look into the bright blue eyes and say that the world wasn't just for playing, because something about them made him stop and think about what he was going to say. Kakashi looked into those eyes now, and felt the same thing wash over him again. This feeling ... this feeling of perservence ... this absolute innocence ... the feeling of its need to remain pure shot into Kakashi and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Anyone can forget a name. You three be careful." He shook his gaze away and shuddered. The feeling left him, and he remembered that they had obtained almost eight scrolls each, probably more than halving their competition. Kakashi wondered if his team had survived. Itachi opened an eye as he disappeared.

"Smooth, Naruto. You almost said my name. That would have given us away entirely."

Naruto grinned. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Gaara swatted his head. "Shut up." Naruto held his head and put it on Gaara's shoulder. "Meanie. That hurt." Gaara rolled his eyes and brought his lips down on Naruto's head. The blonde stilled and giggled at the odd sensation running through his fingertips. Gaara glaned down at the boy.

"That better?"

"No." Naruto murmured, then hugged Gaara's arm.

Gaara nodded knowingly. "I thought so. We'll name you later," mused Gaara, sliding Itachi a look, and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "And you--be quiet."

They sat in silence and the doors opened a few meters to their left.

Hinata was the first to walk through the doors, and then Sakura and Sasuke. Hinata spotted Naruto and went over to speak with him as he let go of Gaara's arm, unaware of Sasuke's suspicious gaze.

"Naruto-kun! You all made it here! I'm glad to see you!" He smiled back at her. "I'm glad that you made it too, Hinata-chan!" Hinata blushed. "T-Thanks, Naruto-kun!" He grinned and hugged her, and then proceeded to dance around her, jumping and laughing and singing, 'we made it! we made it!' on an off-note. Out of the corner of her eye, Hinata observed two very odd things. One, Gaara of Naruto's team was watching them with oddly cold eyes, looking not just at them but also around them at the second thing that concerned her, which was Sasuke, who was also glaring at Naruto and through Naruto to Gaara. She briefly wondered if something could be wrong before the doors slid open again and three people walked into the building, looking around.

"Lee-kun, Tenten-chan, Neji-kun! You all made it!" Lee struck a pose and laughed with Sakura as Naruto and Hinata walked over to say hello. Lee jumped as Naruto came over and he moved in front of Sakura.

"Sakura-chan! Stay behind me! I'll protect--" Sakura lobbed him on the head and waved at Naruto with a grin. "Hey, Naruto-kun! Thanks for saving us in the forest!" Naruto grinned and saluted her back. "Always a pleasure, ma'am!"

Hinata blushed as Lee got back to his feet and glowered at Naruto. She could almost hear him thinking. In fact, he was muttering out loud. "What?! She's only just met him--already ...! Can't compete against his manliness--must make him my rival for all eternity ..." Hinata blinked, a little embarrassed as Lee's eyes switched to flaming cheeri-O style. Tenten laughed and bopped Lee on his head, Hinata blushing as Naruto and Sakura annoyed each other back and forth, and she giggled.

For Neji it was another story. He had walked over to Sasuke and then looked down the hall to see the figure in black slumped against the wall with a straw hat and then to his right, a boy with flame-red hair and deep jade eyes which narrowed as they met his gaze. He froze and Sasuke followed his gaze. "What's ..." His eyes widened in realization and then darkened as he turned and slowly approached the red headed teen that leaned against the wall. Naruto kept an eye on Sasuke as he dodged Sakura's punch and tripped and face-planted himself into the floor. He watched as Sasuke walked up to Gaara, who looked up at him with a bored stare.

"Who are you?"

Gaara didn't blink as he answered, never breaking contact with Sasuke's glance.

"Gaara."

Sasuke glowered. "What did you do to my friend?" Gaara shifted his gaze over to Neji and then his eyes widened. "Him?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, _him_. He's my friend, and you did something to him. He won't tell me what it is. What was it?!" Gaara flashed Neji a look, which Neji refused to meet, and then turned his gaze on Naruto. "He's your friend." Sasuke was getting bored with repeating himself and asked again, almost growling.

"_What did you do_?" Gaara looked back to Naruto and then to Sasuke, and Sasuke jumped at the lost look of confusion in Gaara's eyes. "I hurt ... a friend ... I ..."

For a moment longer Gaara's eyes were clouded and then Naruto bounced over, laughing and jumped on Sasuke's back, and the new weight brought both boys to the ground. Gaara's eye twitched and he held the sand back from catching them, and they landed with a '**thump**' on the floor. Sakura and Hinata rushed over to help their teammate up and Naruto grinned, sliding over and sitting next to Gaara.

_/What's wrong? You stopped talking to him._/ Gaara shook his head. _'I'm confused. I hurt his friend ...' _

_/I wouldn't know what to do./ _

_'Huh?' _

_/When you hurt someone else's friend ... I'd be mad if someone hurt you./ _

_'I'd kill anyone who hurt you.' _

_/...really?/ _

_'I would.'_

"Thanks," whispered Naruto as Sasuke got back up and continued glaring at Gaara.

_/I think that's how he feels./ _

'_Oh ...I never thought about it that way.'_

"You hurt him," growled Sasuke, pointing at Neji, "and if you mess with him, you mess with me."

There was a poof of smoke and Kakashi reappeared, glancing levely around the hallway. "No one's going to mess with anyone. All of you that have your two scrolls need to report to the main arena, this way. We have a few too many people, so we're going to start things off with a set of preliminary matches before we go to the finals. Come," he said, gesturing and pulling out his book. Itachi and Gaara stood up, Tenten and Lee following and Sakura walked next to Sasuke, who was holding Neji's wrist. The white-eyed boy twitched every second, as if the contact was painful and the younger Uchiha caought up with his jounin instructor. "I want to fight--"

"Everyone's matches have already been decided, Sasuke. You'll battle an opponent and the winner will advance. Only ten will advance to the finals." Sasuke shut his mouth and fumed silently. Neji held onto his jacket so that they lagged behind even Hinata, who brought up the rear. "I want to speak with you," he whispered. Sasuke nodded and told Hinata to go ahead. He saw them walk through two double doors and meet up with the other contenders, who were somewhat excited to meet them.

"What is it?"

Neji looked at the floor. "I..."

The white-eyed boy seemed hesitant, and then locked their gazes. "Thanks for saying it, but I don't think you can win. He's too strong." Sasuke shook his head.

"Is that what this is about? I'll get revenge for you, I promise. No one touches you but me." Neji flushed at his bold statement and Sasuke quickly realized how he'd worded his sentence. "I mean, no one hurts you but me. Er, wait--" Neji laughed as Sasuke struggled to put the words in an orderly manner that didn't seem suggestive, but it didn't work, and Sasuke settled for the one he'd said first. "I meant it. No one touches you but me." He hugged the other boy and Neji sighed, leaning into the warmth. "Thanks. I ... needed that. L-Let's go." He pulled away and walked over to the two doors, eyes cast to the floor.

Sasuke was sharp. He could tell when people weren't done saying their piece; something just felt wrong.

"Neji!"

The white-eyed boy flinched and stopped, turning back to guiltily meet Sasuke's worried gaze. "There's more. Isn't' there?"

Neji knew his emotions were leaking out onto his eyes and he hid them and ducked through the doors, avoiding the questioning gaze that became very sad. Sasuke glared emptily at the wall. "If you won't tell me what you're feeling..."

He shook his head, trying to dislodge mixed feelings as he entered the arena area.

There were two combatants on the floor, but one was on his back, rather unable to move. Sasuke looked at the other contender--it had been that man who was slouching next to Gaara. Sasuke looked for Kakashi and his team and walked over to them as Sakura was called up for her match against Ino. Hinata looked at him as he sat down next to her, and she smiled at him and then looked back down at the ring. "Sakura-chan's strong. She'll w-win." Kakashi sighed as the match started. Sasuke suddenly looked up.

"Kakashi, where are the match-ups?" Kakashi pointed at the scoreboard.

"When this match is over, they'll show up on the screen again. If you hadn't gotten here, you might have been disqualified. You're up after Sakura."

Sasuke nodded as Ino went flying back, slamming against the railing of the arena. Chouji and Shikamaru, who weren't competing this year after their team lost a member, and Kiba, were all cheering her from the sides. Shino watched quietly. Finally, both girls knocked each other out and were taken care of by medical nins.

The black-haired teenager sat up and looked at the board as it cleared away, showing the advancing gennin so far. The grass-nin from Naruto's team. His name wasn't available. Sasuke rose an eyebrow. Usually the exams required at least to submit a name ... wiping the suspicion from his mind, Sasuke looked for his opponent and was dissatisfied. Gaara would be fighting one of the girls from the rain team. He himself was fighting a loser from Kabuto's team. The Uchiha jumped down to the arena to meet his opponent and their match began.

Naruto looked at the board as the names flashed by and he read them off quietly in his head. Most of the names he didn't quite recall, but some flashed in his head like a dim light bulb. _/Itachi-chan ... Sakura-chan and Ino-chan just went ... Sasuke's up now ... next is Lee-kun and Hinata-chan! And then Shino? and Tenten-chan ... Then me against some girl named Tenmari ... and Neji--ah, the boy with white eyes--against Kan-ku-row ... ah, there's Gaa-chan/_ he lit up as Sasuke thrashed his opponent and was declared the winner, _/against Kiba-someone. And I don't know either of the last two players./_

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke."

He grinned. "This is a fun game," he said aloud to himself as Lee and Hinata looked at each other as their names flashed on the board. Hinata passed Naruto on her way down. "Good luck, Hinata-chan!" Hinata blushed as she made her way to the arena and faced Lee in the ring. Lee blushed and struck a pose. "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan, but I wish to fight Neji-kun and Naruto-kun in the finals, so I will try my best to win this match!" Hinata blushed and smiled weakly. "I-I understand, Lee-kun. I-I'll try m-my hardest, also." Lee nodded and their fight began.

Lee didn't want to use any high-level taijutsu on her, but he decided that he'd try and go fast enough so that her Byakugan wouldn't follow. Neji, on the deck above, snorted. "That won't work," he muttered to himself as Sasuke sauntered over, frowning even though he'd won the match. "What won't work?" asked Sasuke as Lee shot at his opponent. Neji pointed at the ring as Hinata slashed out with a kunai, cutting a section of Lee's green outfit, revealing his left arm and the shallow slice she'd made at the forearm. Lee stopped and looked down, and then pulled out his own kunai. Naruto, watching from the sidelines, yelled out to her. "Come on, Hinata-chan! You can do it!" The two combatants jumped at each other, matching each thrust with an attack of their own, and finally Hinata's kunai was knocked from her hands. Lee ducked in to press a pressure point when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Hinata's body turned into a log and a figure behind him pressed twelve of his opening points before he could realize what was happening. Lee yelled and tore himself from where he stood, his left arm and right leg becoming immobilized. The pain shot through his arm and somewhere on the observance deck, Gai gasped and called out to his star student. Hinata panted, amazed that it'd actually worked, and dove at Lee with a yell, using several well-thrown shuriken to pin Lee's hands and feet to the ground. She then got behind his head and put a kunai to his throat. Neji and Sasuke looked startled. Naruto was yelling, Akamaru was barking, and Kakashi was dumbstruck. Everyone stared at her in amazement. Hinata realized what she was being stared at for, and dropped the kunai as many eyes became focused on her. She found herself unable to move and Lee got up, knocking the shuriken away with the kunai she'd dropped in his mouth, and then pressing a point just bellow her neck. Hinata jerked and fell back, eyes shut in a peaceful sleep that wasn't death.

Naruto pouted. "Ah. That's too bad for Hinata-chan." Gaara looked at the ring. "Hn."

"Winner, Lee." Hinata woke up as the announcer gave her a start by pressing a point on the other side of her neck. The purple haired Hyuuga blushed as she walked back past Naruto, who patted her shoulder and winked at her. "It's ok, Hinata-chan," he said brightly, smiling, "sometimes, you really win when you think you've lost." Hinata blinked at him with wide-eyes, not sure what he meant, but she blushed and felt better anyway. "T-Thanks, N-Naruto-kun." She flushed and ran over to Kakashi, who congratulated her in his own way as the next match was announced, the board flashing on again. Shino and Tenten had been chosen and the two came down to the arena quick enough.

"Hey," said Sasuke as the match began, Shino gaining an early upper hand, "Who're you up against?" Neji looked over at the board as it showed the match ups. "Someone named Kankuro. He's a painted fool," growled the white-eyed boy in irritation, "I'll never be anything if I only get to fight weak losers." Sasuke looked at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. "Some fools can come back to surprise you," he muttered. Neji looked up from the fight.

"Hm?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. It's too bad Hinata-chan lost her match."

Neji stiffened and nodded, trying not to say anything that might offend the main house member that stood just a few feet away next to the blonde from the Grass village.

"Who's that she's standing with?" he asked suddenly, his eyes narrowing in something that resembled anger. Sasuke looked over at Hinata.

"You mean Naruto?" Said blonde almost looked over at them. _/Why are they talkin' bout me behind my back? I didn't do anything …/ _Neji took a step towards his cousin and then stopped. "Isn't that the person… the name, say it again?" Sasuke looked over at the two who were leaning over the railing, cheering on Tenten as she began to really fight back, countering Shino's bugs with more effective techniques than before.

"Naruto."

This time, the blonde boy looked up and over at them, grinning. "Hey! It looks like Tenten-chan's gonna win!"

Neji took another step forwards. "Hinata-sama? Please come away from Naruto." Naruto and Hinata faced Neji with similar confused looks. "Why?" asked the purple-haired ninja with a slight whine. Neji narrowed his eyes again. "I am requesting that you step away from him, Hinata-sama. He may be dangerous."

Hinata blinked and flushed. Naruto blinked. "Why? Do I have to be dangerous?" Neji frowned. "What are you talking about?" Naruto grinned slyly, his bright blue eyes disguising laughter and slight annoyance. "Hinata-chan doesn't think I'm dangerous--do YOU think I'm dangerous?" Neji's eyes narrowed and Sasuke wondered if Naruto knew that he was messing with the son of a very influential person.

"I'm not scared of you." Naruto shrugged and then turned back to the arena.

"Ok. I'm gonna watch Tenten-chan play with Shino-kun, now."

Hinata turned back to the arena, having almost forgotten that there was a fight going on in the midst of talking to the taller Branch House member. Tenten was beginning to gain the upper hand. Shino's bugs were becoming less and less effective as Tenten got faster and faster with her kunai, and also more accurate. Naruto let out a yell of excitement along with Ino and Kiba as Tenten shot seven shuriken past Shino's defenses and managed to slice up his right arm. Shino tugged out a shuriken and shot it back with amazing speed, and Tenten managed to block it with a somewhat feral grin. She jumped and it began to rain weapons down on Shino. His bugs were no match, and he neatly performed Kamawari no jutsu before reappearing and forfeiting because he was just about out of chakara.

In the stands, Shikamaru nodded. "Smart move," he muttered to himself as Shino shook hands with Tenten and stepped off to be yelled at by his over-enthustaic teammates. Tenten waved at Neji, and he nodded at her success.

Hayate looked up at the board. "Uh, excuse me ... _coughhack_ but the next match will begin now. Uzumaki Naruto vs Tenmari ..." The blonde girl whipped out a giant fan and floated down on it, meeting Naruto at the floor. The sickly-looking man rose a hand.

"Uh ... _cough_ begin!"

* * *

End chapter

* * *

It's getting really hard to write because EVERYONE has used the chuunin exams. I'm going to let you know now: they're not really relevant to the story because I'm using them as a spring board for Naruto and Gaara to leap off of. That's right--the next chapter, the Chuunin exams end early! Here's a taste: 

"Hyuuga," he rasped, his fiery red eyes swirling in a brilliant display of power and anger, "tell me!"

Their invisible observer narrowed his eyes. Was this more than a fight?

Neji shook his head best he could. "I won't. I can't."

---

Gaara looked at the ground, and then at Neji. "I wouldn't have killed you."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "Tell me that when you've lost."

---

The blonde bowed to the stadium and pretended to tip a hat.

"Ladies and fools, thank you for being so patient while we played with you. You may now break out in panic and fear."

A/N: (wow. a first A/N! :) Review and I'll see you after the break!!!


	7. Chuunin part3

**CHAPTER:7**3rd test: Once Itachi stepps in ring, Naruto appears next to both kages. Sand covers them and Naru puts their heads in bag. Surprised at Orochimaru's head, says nothing. Itachi looks at Sasuke and reveals himself as Naruto and Gaara drop genjutsu hiding the Kages. All jounin/ANBU terrified at Naruto and Gaara, Sasuke rushing at Itachi and Naruto stops him. The three Akastuki get away easily.

* * *

"Uh ... cough begin!"

Tenmari gripped her fan and glared across the room at Naruto. '_Ok. This guy withstood a punch straight to the face and walked through an illusion. I gotta keep on my toes if I want to kick his ass_.' She threw three kunai straight for Naruto and swung her fan. Naruto caught the kunai, stared at them, and then went flying into the wall as the wind hit him. Gaara shut his eyes and went to sleep. Itachi followed suit. Hinata gasped. "Naruto-kun!" Sasuke looked at Itachi and Gaara curiously. Neji noticed his confused look and nudged him. "Hey--what's wrong?" Sasuke nodded over at the two other grass nins. "For teammates, they don't seem too worried that Naruto's losing already." Neji shrugged. Down in the ring, Tenmari looked embarrassed for overestimating Naruto. Naruto laughed and jumped out of the pile of debris, dusting himself off. Tenmari grinned back at him.

"Think you're all so tough? I think you're just a bunch of hot air." She waved the fan at Naruto again, and Naruto giggled as he was thrown into the wall again. Tenmari grinned. '_I guess I've knocked him silly_,' she thought as she brought the fan back for another blow. Naruto peeled himself off the wall and went to stand where he had been before, and she swung the fan, air blasting him into the wall, but this time, Sasuke noticed with suspicion, Naruto was actually floating with the wind, and when he did slam into the wall, he moved his hands under him to cushion most of the blow. Neji looked from Naruto to Tenmari, and Kakashi's eyes narrowed as if he'd picked up the same thing. Tenmari, however, thought that she was in full control of the match. She put her fan behind her back and walked over to Naruto, who was peeling himself from the wall, and stood in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. "You're pretty weak, you know that?" Naruto looked up at her, grinning. "Hi! That was fun! What game do you wanna play now?" Tenmari stared and then shook her head, snickering as she took out a dozen kunai. "Let's play 'Pin the Tail on You.' Hold still." Naruto beamed and Tenmari drew back, flinging six knives at Naruto. Sasuke felt his eyes widen as they all landed.

"Naruto!!!"

Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Sasuke and Neji shouted as the blonde was impaled. Three kunai bit into his right arm, one in each leg, and a third in his left shoulder. Naruto looked at each knife respectively and then giggled.

"You missed," he said, laughing, "you missed! You missed my heart, my head, AND the tail! You're bad at this game!" Tenmari glared at the grinning figure. "Heh. Even stuck with kunai, you're a pain in the butt. All right, try this!" She launched the rest of her kunai and this time, she struck home. One in the chest. One in the gut. One between the eyes. Tenmari gasped. "But he--I--should have dodged--" Sasuke tore his eyes away from the match. The announcer and Tenmari looked at the blonde with wide eyes before Naruto giggled and looked around for something. Tenmari felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

"B-But ... his brain ... his heart ... h-he should ..." The announcer shrugged, trying to shake off the feeling that had settled over the arena. "He's still moving." Naruto grinned and turned around, giving everyone a big thumbs-up. Neji frowned and activated his Byakugan, along with Hinata, as Sasuke activated his shiringan. All three found nothing. As in, no chakara dummy. Nothing.

"I'm ok!" From behind Sasuke, Gaara got up and walked over to the railing. "Ramen if you finish now," he called over the railing. The blonde gasped. "RAMEN!"

Suddenly, Tenmari was on the ground, asleep, and Naruto was jumping up and down. "Ramen, ramen, ramen!!!" Sasuke's eyes widened and he gripped the railing. What had happened? Naruto hadn't even moved--and he still had kunai stuck in his vital organs! Neji glared down at the boy as he danced around, singing 'ramen, ramen, ramen!!!' in an off-tone voice before Gaara jumped past him and landed silently on the floor. Naruto jumped and Gaara put a finger between his eyes, and the blonde figure giggled and faded into a red mist that swirled and disappeared. Kakashi's eye widened. 'Why couldn't I see that?" Gaara disappeared from the ring with a short jump, and landed next to Itachi and Naruto, and fell asleep with Naruto's head on his shoulder and his own head on Naruto's. Sasuke and Neji turned and jumped. "How ..." Neji's name was called and he cleared his throat, addressing Sasuke as he faced the stadium arena. "Sasuke, I'll see you later."

Sasuke looked up and shoved him. "Lose and I'll kill you."

Neji rolled his eyes. "You always say that, and I never lose."

Sasuke nodded as his friend jumped over the railing. "Exactly. And you're still alive."

Neji heard the comment but had no time to answer--his opponent was standing in the ring with his arms crossed and a glare painted on his face. Neji put a hand out. "This won't take long."

Sasuke turned from the fight--he already knew who would win. He was more interested in talking to Naruto and the red-haired boy. Gaara. The two were in front of him and he said their names softly, waking them up. Both blinked and looked up at him as he glared at them. "Come with me." Naruto looked to Gaara then Itachi then back to Sasuke. "Why should we?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I have some questions to ask you." Naruto shrugged. "Ask 'em here." Sasuke frowned. "I can't. They're important--" Naruto jumped up, grinning. "Ooooh, secrets! Ok, secrets are different! We'll go!" Before Sasuke or Gaara could protest, Naruto had dragged them both by the wrist out of the arena and into the hallway. He sat them all down and crossed his legs, bouncing a little. "Hey, hey, come on, come on!!! We gotta get back in time for Gaa-chan's match, too!"

He turned his head sideways and caught the kunai in his mouth. "I win!" Sasuke glared, drawing two more and choked as Gaara slammed him into the wall with the sand. His eyes were narrowed.

"My patience is thin with you. You're a bad, stupid person." Naruto grinned and spat out the kunai. "You need ta lighten up. What didja wanna talk about?" Gaara growled and the sand tightened, Sasuke gasping for air as his chest was crushed slowly. "S-Stop!!!" Gaara let the sand loosen but only just enough for air. Sasuke panted and then turned to eye Naruto.

"Where's my brother?!"

Naruto blinked. "Oro?"

Sasuke glared. "Don't play dumb--he left after he massacred my entire family! I have to find him!"

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Why? You feel left out?"

Sasuke glared. "Don't ... you ... DARE say that. Don't **ever** say that again!!!" Gaara narrowed his eyes. "Who are you to threaten us?" he asked, the sand contracting again. Sasuke squirmed and then fell back, panting as the sand let him breathe again. "Shut up! I'll beat you both--I'm going to kill my brother!" Gaara's eyes widened and Naruto let out a loud laugh that bordered on sounding like a bark.

"Idiot! You couldn't kill him--he's too strong!" Sasuke snapped. He brought his hands back to form a seal and the sand crept around one, pinning it where it was. Sasuke cursed mentally. He didn't know any one-handed jutsus yet. Growling, he tried to think straight. After a few moments of intense concentration, he managed to subdue the fact that Naruto had practically called his life's purpose off. '_Ignoring the fact that he called me WEAK'_--no, no, couldn't think like that. He could at least get some answers out of these two.

"If you don't know where my brother is, then what happened? You just left, right before my brother killed my family! Why?" Naruto blinked. "Cauz' Gaa-chan likes me just the way I am. You were always yellin' at me, and 'sides, the villagers were all jerks." Sasuke stared at Naruto. Something was wrong.

"How old are you?" Naruto counted on his fingers. "Sixteen!" he said brightly, holding up two hands and a foot. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"You--you sound--you act ... like a five year old."

Gaara shrugged. "And you're like a stuffed monkey with a fan on its back. Go **away** before I crush you." Gaara dropped the sand and Sasuke flitted back to the arena. Naruto grinned and looked up at Gaara as the red head took his hand and helped him up.

"'s no wonder Itachi-chan never wanted ta play with him. He's so moody."

* * *

Neji met Sasuke at the railing. Sasuke rose an eyebrow at the white-eyed boy. "What took you so long?" Neji shrugged. "Just a few technical errors. He made a rather rude comment about something and I decided that it would be to his benefit if he learned not to say things about other people's hair before a match."

Sasuke looked at the twitching form on the floor bellow and then stared at Neji. "You're insane."

"Shaddup."

For a moment, they waited for the medical nins to clear off the field. Sasuke looked behind him as Gaara passed towards the arena. "You don't ..." Neji looked up at him. "Hm?" Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. I just talked to Naruto and... Gaara."

Neji froze. "Why?" Sasuke shook his head. "Neji, list--" The white-eyed boy stared down at the arena. "Sasuke, stay away from him." Sasuke blinked. "Are you tryin--" Neji shuddered and didn't look at Sasuke again. "Stay away--please. He's dangerous." Neji looked away, missing Sasuke's worried glance. _'Besides ... I need my own revenge.'_

Gaara looked around and Kiba jumped into the ring. Akamaru whimpered and hid in Kiba's jacket. Kiba glared. _'Shit! If Akamaru is that scared of this guy, I might have a little trouble._' "Ok!" he shouted, "Let's go!" Gaara took the cork from his gourd and sand poured out, almost hissing as it shot at Kiba. The taller boy blinked and Hinata screamed as it covered him, slamming down on the arena floor and beginning to contract. There was a lump in the pile of sand and Kiba shot from it, Akamaru barking wildly. "I know, I know," shouted Kiba as he made several hand seals, "we got one shot at this!" They transformed and there was a huge rumbling as Kiba's special technique tore through the stadium. Gaara looked up and the tornado-like spirals crushed down, wrapping around him and the crowd took Gaara for done. Kiba and Akamaru returned to normal, panting at their exhaustion and grinning at each other. "W-well, that did it," rasped Kiba as Hinata blushed and waved at him from the railing. He grinned and waved back and was hit by a huge wave of sand. Gaara stood up and looked at the announcer. "If I kill him, will I be breaking the rules?" Hayate blinked and nodded. "Then he should think about forfeiting." Gaara looked over at Kiba and had the sand release his head. Kiba growled and thrashed around for another few seconds before giving up, jumping away and dashing out of the sand's grip with Akamaru in his hands, clamped to his chest. He flung himself up over the railing with a single bound and put Akamaru on the floor, taking out a medical kit as Hinata rushed over. Gaara looked at Naruto, who was laughing and cheering him on.

"Come on," he said to the blonde as Naruto jumped off of the railing and landed on Gaara's shoulders, "I promised you ramen."

The two walked to the door and then disappeared. Itachi disappeared behind Sasuke and Neji in a soft puff of smoke. Kakashi's eye narrowed and the silver-haired jounindisappeared as well.

* * *

Naruto smiled. "Hey, Gaara?"

The red head looked up at the blonde. "Hn?"

"Why's the sky blue?"

"I dunno." The two smiled and lay next to each other, not really listening for anything other than the darkness that didn't come. The sun beat down and everything breathed under the brilliant rays.

Looking out onto the bright blue sky almost made them forget the battle that was coming up in two weeks.

* * *

(A/N: some major NejiSasu OOC here. --;; I tried to write them normal, but it's hard ...)

Sasuke flipped over and shot three shuriken downwards and grunted as he landed and charged. Neji returned the shruiken with a sharp swipe and they nipped Sasuke's shoulder and left calf. The two boys drew kunai quicker than either could follow and slashed out, the sound of the knives connecting ringing through the air for a mile. Disappearing, both boys shot at each other from different locations and abandoned weapons for fists. Neji caught the first blow aimed at his face and was blocked as he tried to swipe Sasuke to his feet. Both boys kicked up and shot away, regrouping and flying back toward the other with activated eyes. Dark blood-red eyes swiveled to meet shock-white orbs and each launched into his own jutsu. Fire met electricity and training ground 32 shook with an explosion.

The Hyuuga member that happened to be walking by jumped and then shot into the grounds, and looked for the source of the explosion. He activated his Byakugan and looked around. The man found two boys laying on their backs, struggling to get to their feet. He headed for their location and stopped short, hiding himself in a tree. He lowered himself into the branches and then waited to see what would happen.

Sasuke rose first. He panted and then walked over to Neji with a kunai in his hand. Neji flipped himself over and used what was left of his upper strength to push himself into a sitting position. Sasuke was standing next to the other boy and his eyes swiveled and he thrust the kunai down into Neji's chest. The figure shuddered and disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a log. Sasuke flung seven shuriken behind him and Neji's kaiten sent the weapons everywhere. One shot up to a tree and the older Hyuuga moved his head to the side, allowing it to finish its path into the branch. Neji dropped his kaiten and jumped at Sasuke, plunging a kunai into his shoulder. Sasuke cried out and then grabbed Neji's shoulders and pushed him to the ground. He straddled the other boy, pulling out kunai and pinning him to the ground within seconds; it was like he had four hands instead of two as his arms moved in a blur. Neji growled and kicked out with his feet but Sasuke had won. The black-haired boy grinned, holding his left shoulder with one hand and holding a kunai over Neji's neck with the other.

"Hyuuga," he rasped, his eyes swirling in a brilliant display of power and anger, "tell me!"

Their observer narrowed his eyes. Was this more than a fight?

Neji shook his head best he could. "I won't. I can't." Sasuke glowered down at him.

"Can't what? Why won't you tell me? It's not like I can just ask him, 'hey, what did you do to my friend to make him act like such a coward?!'" Sasuke's eyes flashed and Neji saw the sense slip out of them. "Sasuke?" The boy's grip on his neck tightened and the observer began to worry. Sasuke shouted down at Neji wildly.

"Tell me, what did you do to him?!"

Neji's eyes widened. "Sasuke? What the hell do you mean?"

Sasuke brought the kunai up. "Tell me!"

The knife plunged at Neji's neck and the white-eyed boy gasped and turned his head away, eyes shut and shouted his friend's name desperately. Sasuke realized at the last moment who he was attacking, and mechanically jerked his hand towards his own body. He couldn't stop the movement and blood splattered onto Neji's face as his eyes widened and looked up.

"Sasuke!"

The black-haired boy got off of Neji, eyes wide and shiringan deactivated. His insanity had fled and was replaced with realization. He slowly brought a hand to his chest and he cupped it to catch the blood that oozed out of his mouth. Sasuke brought the handful of blood up to where he could see his stunned reflection in it and read the disbelief in his own eyes as he let the dark red liquid dribble from between his shaking fingers.

"I ... I almost ..."

He spat out blood and Neji looked up at the movement when their observer made himself known and his eyes widened. "Father!"

Hiashi frowned down upon Neji. "What happened here?" Neji jerked up and several kunai came loose and he was able to rise up. Slowly, he moved over to Sasuke and pulled the kunai from his friend's chest. "Sasuke, what the hell happened? Sasuke, answer me!" Hiashi walked over and made Sasuke lie back. He took out a scroll and performed a short jutsu. The scroll hissed and white smoke poured out onto Sasuke's wound. The blood stopped coming but Sasuke hacked up a clot and it dribbled onto his clothes and he shuddered. Neji held his wrist. "He's losing a lot of blood," he muttered as he took out some medical gauze and a towel. He put his friend's head in his lap as his father shot off to get more help. As they were left alone, Sasuke looked up at Neji with a weak gaze.

"I almost k-killed you."

Neji pushed Sasuke's bangs away from the blood dribbling from his mouth and then smacked him. Sasuke looked dazed and then shook his head, looking up at Neji with shock as the other boy pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Don't talk," he said softly, "you need help. We'll talk. I swear. If you wanted to know THIS badly--" Neji laughed oddly, sounding like a sick machine, "I thought you were insane--you jerk, why didn't you tell me you wanted to know this much?! Why didn't you ... why did you wait so long?" Sasuke laughed and swallowed some blood. "You ... weren't listening ... I don't know." He used lots of his remaining strength to take Neji's face in his hands and stare into his eyes. They were bright with tears and fear and Sasuke pushed a large, salty drop away with a thumb and he smiled through the pain as he began to lose consciousness.

"Hey--wh-what did I tell you ... boys don't ... cry." He collapsed in Neji's arms as the medics arrived.

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" The third turned around, eyebrow risen as Iruka rushed into the room past Asuma and Gai. "Yes, what is it, Iruka? You seem out of breath." Iruka put his hands on the desk. "Sasuke ... stabbed himself..." The third's eyes widened. Asuma and Gai looked up and whispered to each other.

"Hm? Why? Is he being attended to?"

Iruka nodded. "H-he's being treated now. He should be all right in the next week, but we're worried about his mental stability." The third sat back in his seat.

"As am I. Why would he stab himself?" Iruka shrugged as Kakashi appeared in the room.

"Iruka, Sasuke's out of critical condition now." Iruka broke into a choked sob and Kakashi wrapped his arms around the sobbing chuunin and looked at the third over his shoulder. "Sorry about--" The Hokage shook his head, smiling softly.

"Please, take your time. I believe that I might talk with Sasuke when he's better. For now, you can worry about the situation in your arms." He smiled at Kakashi and then turned back to his work. Kakashi looked down at Iruka, then back at the Hokage, then back to Iruka. When it finally hit him, he akwardly tried to calm the sobbing chuunin as Iruka attempted to soak the older man's vest with tears.

From their post at the doors, Asuma and Gai smirked at him.

* * *

Even out of critical condition, Sasuke had lost a lot of blood and it would kill him to take it all back at once and then continue his training. Neji barely left the hospital. Lee and Tenten pried him away sometimes to eat, but mostly he stayed by Sasuke's side, talking softly and looking at his face. Sasuke drifted between consciousness and major pain, and tried constantly to open his eyes, even though it felt as though a twenty-pound bag was sitting on each lid. Even though he couldn't see, Sasuke could hear Neji talking to him. The thing that Sauske heard most was, "when you wake up, I'll tell you." And Sasuke was determined to open his eyes even more.

Lee put the flowers next to the roses that Tenten had brought. Neji was sitting in the chair next to his friend as Sasuke sneezed and his eyes blinked open. Sakura laughed and was crying and Hinata was sobbing and Kakashi was consoling Iruka as the chuunin shook with his own tears. Sasuke sniffed and looked at Neji.

"I love the flowers, but they make me sneeze."

Neji smiled. "At least you're awake now."

Sasuke shrugged. "I have to find out what happened."

Neji tensed and looked at Kakashi. "Could I ..." Kakashi nodded and led Iruka, Hinata, Sakura, Lee and Tenten from the room. He winked at them and shut the door behind him.

The two sat in silence for a while. Sasuke spoke first.

"I'm sorry." Neji looked up dumbly. "Huh?"

Sasuke looked at his hands. "I almost killed you. I was going to ..."

Neji fought the urge to slap the boy only because of his condition and instead flicked his nose. Sasuke looked up and then held his head. "Hnn ... can't move my head ..." Neji instantly reprimanded himself in his head but looked at Sasuke sternly.

"Hey--you have to take it easy. The exams are next week, and you have to fight against whoever they put you against. We can train only one more time together--the day before the exam." He took out a strawberry and Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "Is this all I get?" Neji lifted the fruit basket onto his lap where Sasuke could see it. He smiled as Sasuke's eyes lit up at the numerous red berries. "Of course not. Now eat something."

Sasuke lifted an arm, flinching, but he managed to feed himself a single strawberry and laid back against the pillow, absorbing the sweet sensations of the small red berry.

"He didn't kill me." Sasuke looked up. Neji was cutting the strawberries up, removing the heart and leafs and he shifted several slices onto a place, sliding it onto Sasuke's lap. "You eat. I'll talk." Sasuke nodded slowly.

Outside, Lee and Tenten sat with Hinata and Sakura.

"W-will t-th-they be ok?" Tenten looked at the door. "I'm sure they'll be fine, Hinata-chan. They're both the strongest boys I know." Sakura put a hand to her chin. "But how did Sasuke-kun get that wound? No one will tell us, and if someone from the exams is trying to sabotage--"

"I don't believe that anyone would stab Sasuke-kun for sabotage," said Lee as he looked at the door, "and I believe that it wasn't Neji-kun's fault."

Tenten looked at Lee. "Why do you say that? It could have easily have been Neji's fault--they might have been sparring ..." Lee looked at the door and smiled to himself.

"I don't believe that it was Neji-kun's fault. I do believe that they will work out whatever's bothering them."

Sakura blinked and smiled. "So you noticed it, too?" Lee nodded and Hinata exchanged a confused glance with Tenten. Both girls looked at their respective teammates.

"What do you mean?"

Sakura winked at Hinata. "It's just a gut feeling, you don't have to worry about it. Sasuke-kun'll be ok, and that's all that matters." She pulled Hinata to her feet and winked at the purple-haired kunoichi. "Come on--Kiba called me earlier and asked me to tell you that he and Ino are going to take Shino to the ice cream shop again. Ino owes me a soda, and you look like you need a good strawberry float." Hinata blinked and waved good bye to Lee and Tenten as Sakura ushered her straight out of the hospital. Lee turned back to the door and looked at the ground. Tenten looked over at him and rose an eyebrow.

"It's not like you to be so quiet, Lee-kun," she said, crossing her arms and smiling sideways at him. Lee looked up and then looked back at the door. "I'm concerned."

Tenten frowned. "'Bout what?"

"Neji-kun. And Uchiha-kun." Tenten waited, but Lee didn't elaborate. He folded his hands on his chest and smiled, looking at the door.

"Well?"

"Hm?"

"What are you concerned about?"

"Their relationship."

Tenten's jaw dropped. "Their WHAT?!?"

"I'm worried that they don't open up enough to each other. A good friendship needs a more open connection. If they can't talk about what ever has bothering them then they could reach a parting--" Lee stopped at Tenten's laughter. He blushed. "W-What are you laughing at?!"

Tenten held her sides as she laughed. "Oh, boy! For a second, I thought you were talking about a relationship, like, relationship!"

Lee blinked. "A what?"

Tenten laughed harder and Lee smiled.

Their good mood faded as two figures walked towards them, expressions set and a grin on one's face.

(... something of a scene switch here ...)

"Are you sure?"

Neji nodded. "I'm positive. It's yours."

Sasuke smiled. "Thanks."

He placed the last of the strawberries in his mouth and swallowed as someone was slammed into the wall outside. Neji jumped, putting the basket from his lap onto the table next to Sasuke. Neji's eyes widened as he heard Tenten scream. "Tenten!" He rushed at the door and it was kicked down towards him. He jumped back at the last minute and Lee was thrown into him and he caught his teammate as they flew into the wall. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"You."

Gaara's eyes met Sasuke's. "Me."

"And me!" Naruto poked his head out from the corner of the door and waved. "Hiya, Sasuke! We were just stoppin' by to see if you were better." Sasuke growled. "What's **he** doing here?" Gaara glared at Sasuke. "It's not nice to talk about people behind their backs right in front of them." Naruto giggled. "That didn't make sense." Neji picked Lee up off of the floor and Lee nursed a bloody cheek. "They just appeared at the end of the hallway," he muttered, cupping his cheek, "and Tenten's all right. Naruto just knocked her out. She's all right." It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than convincing Neji. The white-eyed boy looked at Gaara and paled. "Y-you."

Gaara looked at Naruto. "Me?"

Naruto nodded. "You."

Gaara looked confused.

Suddenly, something came to Sasuke's mind. "Naruto, tell Gaara to sit down."

Naruto looked at Sasuke for a second and Neji hissed at Sasuke. "What are you doing?" Sasuke made a sharp motion with his hand for silence as Naruto turned to Gaara. "Siddown, Gaa-chan." Gaara slumped down to the floor, looking up at Naruto with his head cocked to one side. Neji's eyes widened and Sasuke smirked grimly. "I thought so."

Naruto sat next to Gaara and the red head grabbed Naruto's hair. Naruto blinked and fell back on Gaara's chest as the other boy played with his hair. The jade-eyed boy looked quite like a cat playing with a ball of string; content and harmless. Sasuke couldn't understand what Naruto meant to this person who frightened Neji so much to make him so seemingly ... docile. Neji pushed Lee towards the door. "Check on Tenten-chan and get Gai-sensei," he whispered to the green-clad ninja. Lee nodded and was gone. Gaara ran a hand through Naruto's hair and Sasuke looked down on them with some kind of angry emotion. He caught himself and wondered if he was jealous of the bond they had or if he was just jealous of Gaara. Naruto looked sleepy in Gaara's arms, and soon he was curled up like a cat. No one spoke for the longest time. Everyone was thinking something.

"They'll end ..." Neji and Sasuke looked up.

"What?" Gaara ran a hand over Naruto's skin and threaded his lithe fingers through Naruto's blonde locks. "They'll end quicker than you think. You should keep away." Neji frowned. "What are you talking about?" Gaara looked up. "The exams--they'll end quicker than you think." Neji's eyes narrowed. "What?" Gaara looked at Naruto. The blonde boy purred as his chest rose and he let out a soft sigh. "Mmm ... ramen ..." Sasuke's gaze fell on Naruto. "Is he always like that? Falling asleep when someone's trying to have a serious conversation?" Gaara nodded, not really seeing the look in Sasuke's eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Neji and Sasuke looked at Gaara in surprise. Gaara was stroking Naruto's hair with a guilty gaze. He shifted his eyes to Sasuke and then Neji. "I hurt you. I'm sorry." He looked from Neji's confused face to Sasuke.

"You want to kill me, don't you?" Sasuke felt his eyes widen and he nodded slowly. Gaara looked at Naruto.

"If anyone hurts Naruto, I'll kill them."

He looked back up at Sasuke. "You feel the same, don't you ..."

Sasuke knew he should have been agreeing. He knew he should have been saying something. The small tone of Gaara's voice made him feel that he was the bad person and he rubbed his arm, looking anywhere other than Gaara's sad gaze. He knew he should be discussing something about strength and Neji and Naruto in the back of his head, but it wouldn't come to his lips and Gaara looked up at Neji with a bright-eyed gaze.

"Hey," he whispered, "come here." Neji froze, and slowly edged over. Gaara hugged Naruto close to him like a child holding a teddy bear to his chest. Neji blushed at the sight and looked instead straight into Gaara's eyes. "Y-yes?" Gaara took a string out of his red scarf and tied it around Neji's finger. Neji looked at the string. "What the hell is this?" Gaara gave him the other end. "Tie it around his finger," he whispered. Neji blinked. "Huh?" Gaara pushed him. "Go," he whispered again, and looked down at Naruto. Neji shrugged. "Whatever ..." He walked over to Sasuke and fixed the string on one of Sasuke's fingers. "There, now--"

Both boys were gone.

Gai appeared in the doorway. "Neji-kun! Sasuke-kun! Lee-kun told me that two boys knocked down the door to the ward! Are you--" he stopped, his jaw dropping and his eyes bugging out. Neji was kneeling by Sasuke's bed, holding his finger out, and a little red thread ran along his finger to Sasuke's. Both boys turned to Gai and wondered what he was staring at. Lee looked into the room and fainted dead away. Sakura and Tenten poked their heads in and squealed. "Look, look!" Sasuke looked down at his hands and remained clueless as to what everyone was getting so worked up about, and somewhere in the back of Neji's mind, the story of red thread came back to him and he groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. Sasuke shook his head.

He was surrounded by weirdos.

* * *

Two days before the finals, Sasuke was allowed to start sparring again. Neji took him training the first day, and then for ice cream the next day. Both boys met Kiba and Hinata, Lee, Sakura, Ino, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, already eating there. When everyone finished, they paired up and sparred again, and then went home to rest. Everyone's mind was on the next day. Nearly all the contestants, and those who knew or thought they knew the contestants, got little sleep.

Naruto, Gaara, and Itachi slept like rocks and woke the next morning on their own time. They refreshed themselves, ate some of Haku's rice balls, and then packed some in a pouch that they slung around their waist for later and headed for the stadium.

There was already a roaring crowd in the stands as they entered the arena with Sasuke, two other rain nins, Lee, Tenten and Neji. There was a new, healthier announcer standing in front of the board. "Welcome to the finals. We'll display the matches now on the board above for everyone to see." All of the gennin turned their attention to the screen.

"Rock Lee VS Naruto

Tenten VS Kikuzo

Gaara VS Neji

Sasuke VS Kakanzi

Amo VS Yuuki."

Naruto glanced over at Itachi. "_'Kakanzi'_?" Itachi shrugged. "It works."

The first match was Naruto and Lee, so the other contestants left the field. Lee smiled at Naruto. "Finally! I get to test my skill against a worthy opponent!" Naruto smiled at him and gave him a thumbs-up. "Thanks!" Lee sniffed and wiped tears from his eyes. "T-That is the f-f-first time anyone hasn't just ignored what I say! Naruto-kun, you are truly a worthy opponent! I shall try my best to defeat you in good spirit!"

Naruto laughed and tilted his head to the side. /_This guy's whacko. I like it._/

The announcer looked from boy to boy and put his hand down. "Begin!"

Lee bounced back and forth and Naruto put a hand up. "Wait a minute!" Lee blinked. "Hm?"

Naruto stretched his hands behind his head. "I wanna warm up first! Let's spar!"

With a quick motion, Naruto shed his weapon holster and the pack on his side and shot at Lee. Lee shed his weapons with two swipes and shot at Naruto. Their fists met and both boys grinned at each other. Before anyone realized it, they had begun. Flashing here and there, they shot around the ring in a delicate dance. Naruto threw a punch at Lee's head which was blocked by a kick at Naruto's head which was stopped by Naruto's kick and they flew backwards, darting at each other again from another angle to try a different approach. Lee sent a kick to Naruto's stomach and Naruto flipped upwards and sent his own kick at Lee's head which was blocked by a fist and they flew back again for a better angle.

For another minute they danced before they shot away and didn't come back. Their eyes met and an understanding caught up with them, 'we're done.' Naruto grinned and slung his packs back on. He dropped into a fighting stance, and then a huge rumble shook the stadium. Lee jumped and looked around. "What was that?" Naruto put a hand on his stomach.

"I didn't have breakfast."

Lee stared at his opponent as half the stadium fell over. Naruto held his stomach and pulled out a bun. He pulled out a second one and tossed it at Lee. "Here! Haku-chan made these!" Lee's eyes lit up and then fell. "Aa. Tell her--er, HIM that sh--er, HE cooks well," he said as he took a large bite from the bun. Lee felt good after eating and wondered if something could have been in the bun. Naruto stretched his arms out and then pulled out two kunai and laced tags on the handles.

"Ok, Lee," called Naruto as he worked his hands on the strings, "I'm going to throw these at you. Then, once you've escaped, I'm going to try and confuse you with some bunshin. The real me will be the only one with shuriken. Most of the bunshin will explode on contact, and then if you're still standing, we can play hopscotch."

Lee didn't have time to question Naruto's reasons for telling him what he was planning to do, because the next second he was instinctively leaping away as the kunai whistled past his ear. He jumped over the smoke and looked on the ground. Seven Narutos threw kunai straight for him. Lee dodged the first five and caught the second two, stopping another wave of kunai with the two he'd caught, and then attacking with them. He shot one into a clone and it exploded. Lee jumped away with wide eyes. '_Everything's like he said!_' He jumped over a bunshin and slammed a kunai into its back. It too exploded but with less force. One Naruto pulled out a handful of shuriken and Lee jumped for him. Another Naruto threw itself in Lee's path and plunged a kunai into itself. Lee frowned and jumped back as the explosion rocked the stadium.

When the smoke cleared, the four Narutos left had their arms crossed and were smiling at Lee. They ran in circles, switching places and disappearing and reappearing so quickly that Lee had trouble following. Finally, they stopped and the Naruto to the far left took out a kunai and tossed it at Lee.

"We got bored, and we wanna play a game. If you can guess the right Naruto in two guesses, then you can fight on fair terms. If not, then we'll play hard." Lee frowned. "And if I get it right on the first guess?" The Naruto on the far right grinned. "Then we'll go extra hard." Lee grinned. He was determined to make the guess right in one shot. He looked over all the clones with an eagle eye. '_Hm ... they're very good clones ... Neji-kun would be able to tell at a glance,_' he thought sadly as he brought the kunai up and pointed at the Naruto on the second-to-left.

"You're Naruto," he said.

Naruto grinned. "Let's find out."

Lee nodded and sent the kunai flying at Naruto's neck. Naruto's eyes widened at the speed and he felt his mouth spread into a grin and blood leaked out between his lips. Lee's eyes widened. The clones fell to dust around Naruto as he brought a hand up to his neck. The announcer ran over. "The match is--"

"--over?" The man turned to stare at Naruto. The boy grinned and tugged the kunai out of his neck. The man's eyes widened as Naruto fingered the edge of the kunai and smirked. His eyes swirled and redness filled his bright blue orbs, swirling like blood in water. "I don't think so. I'm still capable of battle."

The announcer stared at Naruto with confusion and frustration. "You shouldn't be talking. Your vocal chords have been pierced." Naruto nodded.

"Yup--but this is my illusion, so I can do whatever I wanna."

Lee's eyes widened as a thousand foxes appeared out of nowhere and tore at him, bloody fangs and claws tearing him to shreds until Naruto reappeared through the mass of ravenous foxes and his wide red eyes with black slits down the middle blinked and were replaced with a flash of white.

Lee dropped to his knees and panted. Neji and Tenten frowned. "Lee?" Tenten turned to Neji. "What happened?"

Naruto grinned. "Did you have a good dream?"

Lee panted and held his chest. "T-that w-was just ... that was all ..." He caught his breath and laughed. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. What had happened? The two had sparred, then Naruto had given Lee something to eat, then Lee froze, and now he was laughing. Kakashi frowned.

"I didn't see Naruto do any hand seals," he muttered to Gai as he put a hand to his chin. "What do you think happened?" Gai looked at Lee's laughing figure. "I think we'll find out soon." Lee finished laughing and looked at Naruto with a grin.

"So that whole thing was an illusion? No wonder! I had trouble understanding why you would tell me what you were going to do. It makes sense now." He laughed some more and then Naruto shrugged. "Do you want to give it a go for real?" Lee nodded.

Naruto grinned and took out two kunai. "You know what I'm going to do," he said and Lee smirked. Sasuke and Neji looked at each other. "How does Lee know what he's going to do?"

Their attention was directed to the stadium as the first of the explosions went off. Lee shot out of the smoke and threw two kunai at the clones on the ground which exploded with more force than the letter bomb and Lee had to jump to one of the trees in the arena to avoid the blast. "Peek-a-**boo**!" Lee slashed around in a circle and was thrown out of the tree by the explosion of a clone. He rolled with the blast and chucked seven kunai out. Four clones exploded and Lee stood up, grinning and pointing a kunai at the Naruto on the left.

"You're Naruto."

The blonde grinned. "Let's find out."

Lee nodded and sent the kunai at Naruto's neck. Naruto grinned as it slid in-between his flesh, eyes wide and absorbing the horrified look on Lee's face. Hinata gasped. Kiba, Ino and Shino held their breath. Sasuke felt his gut clench. Neji's eyes widened. "Shit ..." Kakashi frowned. "Why didn't he dodge? He had plenty of time ..." Gai looked at the boy suspiciously. "He looks excited. Doesn't he feel pain?" The announcer winced. "And that's the end of the fight. Rock Lee--"

"--isn't done yet," interrupted Lee as he looked at Naruto's grin, "I have a feeling that Naruto-kun's not done either." Naruto smirked. "You almost pierced the vocal cords," he rasped as he pulled the kunai from his neck, "interesting. Hope you're enjoying this as much as me--I'm having more fun than I know what to do with!" He laughed and put a hand on his neck. His eyes flashed and he growled. Red chakara surrounded his hand and Neji gasped. '_in the name of-_-'

"His chakara's ... red," whispered Sasuke as Naruto pulled his hand away. The cut was gone. Lee's eyes narrowed. "You ... you have a bloodline ability, don't you?" Naruto grinned. "Nope." His opponent looked up sharply, but with wide, hopeful eyes. "Really?" The blonde nodded. "Yeah," he said softly.

"I'm bored," muttered Gaara. He leaned over the railing and looked down at the stadium. "Hey!" Naruto and Lee looked up at Gaara, who was glaring down at the stadium. "You have one minute." Naruto pouted. "But Gaa-chan, I was just starting to have fun!" Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Ramen, on me. One minute." Naruto's eyes lit up. "Ramen!" He bounced and looked over at Lee. "Gomen, Lee-kun, but I gotta earn my ramen in under a minute!"

Neji and Tenten scoffed. "That fool ... there's no way he could beat Lee-kun in less than a min--" Naruto was gone and Lee was on his back, staring up into the point of a kunai. The ANBU frowned. They hadn't seen Naruto move. Kakashi's eye swiveled and he sweated.

"Gai," he muttered, "he'd better have more than taijutsu for a plan." Gai leaned over the railing. "Lee!!! Take them off!" Lee nodded and kicked the weights off. He shot out from under Naruto and sent a kick spiraling at his exposed back. Naruto growled.

/_RAMEN_./

He steeled his muscles and Lee's kick hit him square in the back. Naruto turned around, unfazed, and grabbed Lee's leg. Naruto drew his hand back, then it shot out quicker than Lee could follow, and pain shot through his body and he flung hi s head back with a blood-curdling yell that echoed through the air. Neji's eyes widened and Tenten leaned over the railing. "LEE!!!"

Naruto put Lee on the ground gently and looked at the announcer. Then he promptly evaporated.

The announcer blinked and then jumped as the ground under him exploded and Naruto jumped out of a hole. "Yatta! Loud!" Everyone whispered, trying to figure out what had happened. Ino was sitting next to Shikamaru as he explained it boredly to Chouji.

"First, the blonde--Naruto--made a bunshin and hid where he came out of now. The bunshin faced Lee, they sparred, and then it placed a quick genjutsu on him. With the amount of time that passed and the way that Lee knew what was going to happen, I'd say that Naruto could have dragged it out a lot longer. When the genjutsu was broken, Lee relived the illusion and then that troublesome guy," here he pointed up at Gaara, "gave Naruto a reason to end the match. Lee took off at _least_ one-fifty on each leg and hit the bunshin right in the back, but somehow it didn't even budge. Then he closed every opening point on Lee's body and also got to a few pressure points. I'd say that Lee's experiencing some fifty thousand needles of white-hot pain just in his right hand now."

Kakashi looked to Naruto, who was laughing and dusting himself off. "I want to know how ..." Hiashi Hyuuga glared down at him. "How did that young man manage to perform the hands of hattke (sp? :p)so quickly and effectively?"

Naruto looked up at Gaara. "Ramen!" Sasuke looked at Naruto from a distance. "What I want to know is how he controlled that clone so precisely ..." Naruto turned and looked straight at him. Sasuke's eyes widened as Naruto's eyes turned red with black slits and he mouthed something to the black-haired Uchiha.

_'**Come and play, little mouse, and you might learn**.'_

Sasuke jumped away from the railing as if he'd been burned. '_How the hell--_'

Tenten landed next to Lee with the medics and Hiashi Hyuuga. Lee was panting and twisting, clutching his arms to his chest. "Aa--it hurts! Aaah ... Hnn--" He bit his lip and then groaned as a man pushed his head back with a cold towel and another man gave him an injection of something cold and blue. Lee stopped struggling and groaned, falling against the ground with a sigh as the medics quickly got him onto the stretcher and carted him away. Naruto hopped once and then shot up to where Gaara was standing with a single bounce. He landed silently and Gaara handed him a steaming cup and chopsticks.

Naruto's joyful cry of 'Ramen!!!' was the only other thing besides whispering and speculating glances.

* * *

Itachi met Naruto and Gaara on the roof. "We have one match," he said as they sat, Naruto slurping up his ramen while Itachi spoke, "I'll tell you what's going to happen after the mission."

Gaara took off his gourd and the sand shot out, grabbing the man behind a marble dragon head and smothering his scream as the life was squeezed from him like a lemon. Itachi frowned. "I'll tell you if Gaara will ..." Before he could finish, Gaara's sand had formed a dome over them and they were encased in total darkness. Itachi sat back against the sand wall and sighed. "All right. No one can hear through this, correct?" Gaara nodded. "Affirmative."

"Obviously, I'll have to reveal myself to the brat I left alive." Naruto giggled as Itachi made a disgusted noise. "Around that, you'll be with Gaara. I need you to fool the jounin and ANBU. Genjutsu around the kages and have Gaara get them with sand. Put their heads in a bag and wait until I give you the signal." Naruto frowned. "What's the signal?" Gaara ran a hand through his hair. "When he reveals himself to the other Uchiha." Naruto pouted. "Whyyy?" Itachi's eye twitched.

"Because there will be many who recognize me. And most of those people, including Sasuke, would try to kill me on the spot."

Naruto frowned. "But you could handle 'em!"

"He could," said Gaara in the darkness, "however, that would cause more trouble than we need. We're almost done. When Itachi reveals himself, we'll have the heads of the two sitting high on their thrones. We'll have to time it exactly. When Itachi's called, we'll begin the illusion. It has to be subtle to fool all of the guards around here. They expect an attack." Itachi nodded.

"Exactly. We'll work around that. You'll have plenty of time to take their heads, and if something goes wrong then kill whoever you can and get out."

Naruto grinned. "It won't." Itachi looked to where Naruto's voice came from. "What won't?"

"_It won't go wrong_."

Gaara grinned and Itachi felt a wave of bloodlust roll off him like heat from an oven. "If it does, you'll follow what I say." Naruto's voice sounded from his left. "Yeah, yeah, but what happens if we win?"

"Win?"

"Duh, when we kill them and hide right!" Itachi smiled. _'How interesting--they still think this is all a game.'_

"Ah--if you win, then we leave and split up. If you get lost, we'll regroup somewhere remote, like mist or rain."

"What 'bout ..." Naruto whispered something to Gaara and then turned his attention back to Itachi, "What 'bout Infinity Fortress?"

"What?"

"Our old hide out! I betcha Haku can get you there if you forgot where it is." Itachi thought about it. "I ... suppose. Only to regroup. We have to make it back to the Akatsuki and inform Yuki of our success or failure, though I have never failed a mission in five years." Gaara scoffed. "You've been on one assignment for five years." Itachi looked toward the source of his voice sharply. "How do you know that?" Gaara didn't answer. Itachi could almost see his grin in the darkness. "Let's go. Perhaps the match is over."

Light invaded the dome as the sand crumbled away back to Gaara's gourd. Naruto disappeared and jumped on the jounin's back. The silver-haired man jumped and looked up at the blonde as Naruto stood on his shoulders wearing the silliest grin. "BOO!!!"

Kakashi frowned. "What are you three doing up here?"

"Enjoying the breeze," said Gaara softly as he replaced the gourd on his back. Itachi slid his hand down to his right forearm, tracing the kanji there with a pang of something in his chest. For the sake of their success, he avoided meeting Kakashi's eye tipped his hat down and disappeared. Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Kakanzi-kun seems cold." Naruto nodded. "Yup. Just like Sasuke-teme--he's always moody!!!" He leaned over Kakashi's face and grinned at him upside down and then disappeared in an elaborate puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Gaara was gone. Kakashi sighed. "I should have--"

"Kakashi!"

The silver-haired jounin jumped and turned at the sound of a familiar voice. His eye widened and then narrowed. "Iruka? What are you doing here?" The chuunin was smiling at him as he walked across the roof towards his superior. Kakashi appeared next to him as Iruka lost his balance and stopped him from falling. "Iruka, how did you get here?" Iruka giggled. "Guess what?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Iruka ... How did you get out of the hospital? I've got to get you back to--" the chuunin leaned in, giggling, and whispered something into Kakashi's ear.

"He's going to paint his father's throne red ..."

Kakashi frowned. "What do--Iruka, are you all right?" Iruka nodded and then fell asleep. Kakashi grunted as he scooped up Iruka's full weight and disappeared from the rooftop. Gai was congratulating Tenten as Kakashi appeared next to him. "Hey! Gai!" The jounin jumped and looked at his rival--and then the person in his arms. "Iruka-kun!!!" Kakashi held out a finger that poked Gai's forehead, keeping him a foot away from Iruka. "Hey, get serious. I need you to run him to the hospital." Gai's face fell and then he nodded. "Thanks." Kakashi handed Iruka over and Gai was gone in a swirl of smoke. Kakashi turned his gaze to the arena. The board had flashed above him and the two next names were being displayed.

Gaara VS Neji

* * *

Neji walked down to the arena through the building. Two more dark hallways. Two more dark hallways until he faced Gaara. He pulled his arms to his chest, though his feet kept moving. '_My ... my chest stings. I'm scared. I'm scared of him. Of losing. Losing in front of my father, my cousin, the people I've proved myself better than a thousand times ..._' He didn't even notice the figure ahead of him in the hallway. As he walked closer, the boy shook his head and stepped out in front of him. Neji finally looked up and blinked in surprise.

"Sasuke?"

The raven-haired Uchiha glared at him. "Snap out of it. You can't go out there like this. You'll lose for sure." Neji laughed weakly. "Thanks for your support." He tried to walk past him, but Sasuke grabbed his shoulder and Neji turned away. "I'll be fine, Sasuke. Let me go." For some reason, Neji couldn't move. Sasuke's hand on his shoulder seemed to freeze his entire body and he couldn't find the right way to make himself move again. Sasuke pushed his shoulder against the wall and he looked into Neji's shock-white eyes. "Neji ..." He put his other hand on Neji's shoulder but he saw the emotions in Neji's eyes that he didn't want to see and Sasuke pushed him towards the arena.

"Go on--lose and I'll kill you." Neji tore his eyes from Sasuke's gaze and studied the floors. "You always say that, and I never lose."

"Go. Go on," Sasuke turned back towards the darkness of the hallway, "you've got a match to win."

Neji nodded, not really hearing the tone under Sasuke's voice as he emerged in the stadium. The light was bright and when Neji turned back to look for his friend, Sasuke had faded into darkness. He felt himself swallow, but then walked away from the darkness of the hallway and stared the light in the face as Gaara appeared with a swirl of sand. The announcer put a hand between them and begun the fight.

Gaara reached a hand up to take the cork from his gourd. Neji's eyes narrowed and he brought his hands around to strike first. Gaara's eyes narrowed and the sand shot out, hovering around him like a bad cloud. Neji froze and rethought his strategy. '_He's got that sand and it looks like he can control it. I should avoid it--and I should try to get him to attack my kaiten_.' He grunted and chucked three kunai at Gaara's head. The sand caught each one with a soft noise and Gaara narrowed his eyes as the sand made a groaning, crunching noise. Neji's eyes narrowed as the sand released a pile of black dust with the tattered remains of three handles. The sand had squashed the iron in his kunai to dust. "I can't get caught in that, then," he muttered as he formed several seals and a tall waterspout appeared in front of him.

With grim determination, he brought it crashing down where Gaara had stood. There was a faint rumbling before he let up and looked around. Gaara stood, holding his gourd to his chest with his eyes shut. The sand was around him, soaked. The entire arena was wet now, including Neji. He frowned. "I hope that works." He took out three shuriken and shot them at Gaara. One was wide, another caught his left sleeve, and the third struck his gourd. The thing cracked and crumbled to the ground in a billion soggy fragments.

Gaara looked at the ground, and then at Neji. "I wouldn't have killed you."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "Tell me that when you've lost."

He drew two kunai and shot at the redhead. Gaara flicked a hand up and the dry sand underneath the water shot up and blocked Neji's first kunai and he caught the second with his hand. Neji's kick slammed into a thin layer of sand that nearly touched Gaara's head. The red head grabbed Neji's leg and swept his right knee out to take Neji's support from under him and he crashed to the floor. Gaara saw Neji fall and his neck made itself open. He felt his hand twitch towards it but he kicked Neji in the stomach and the Hyuuga went flying into the wall with a sharp yell.

Sasuke appeared next to Kakashi and took his seat. Kakashi looked at him sideways. "Have a good talk?" Sasuke snorted. "You wouldn't know. He's unstable. He's going to lose." Kakashi looked at the ground. "And you're going to kill him if he does." Sasuke looked up at his sensei sharply and then cursed to himself.

Neji got to his feet, a hand cradling his chest. Winded but standing, Neji was determined to get rid of the sand. He brought his hands up and performed the same seals Gaara had seen earlier. With a sharp grunt, Gaara threw himself out of the path of the waterspout as it slammed into the ground and turned all the sand to mud. The shards of his gourd were reduced back to tannish mush. He instead brought out a tag and disappeared. Neji stopped and looked around. Gaara was nowhere to be seen. He pushed his dripping hair back and activated his Byakugan as Gaara appeared behind him and clapped the tag to his back.

"Don't move," he muttered, "read it." Neij glared and then froze. Gaara nodded.

"Electricity. Move, and a thousand volts straight to your sodden body will blow you apart."

Neji cursed. If he moved, the string Gaara was holding would snap, and he would get zapped. If he didn't move, he had the chance of so many things. '_But he's just a gennin_,' he thought furiously,_ 'he shouldn't know any one-handed seals yet, so I'm safe there. Also, there should be little he can do with weapons at such a close range. And since I've gotten rid of his sand, he's got little areas of expertise ... that I've seen or heard of so far.' _He narrowed his eyes. "Damn ..."

Gaara waited a second more and then yanked the string from the tag.

Neji caught his breath in his throat and watched the tag fall to the floor behind him with his Byakugan. "What?" Gaara grinned as his hands crept onto Neji's shoulders and turned into sand. His face expanded and everything faded into tan as Neji was engulfed by the Suna Bunshin.

Sasuke jumped out of his seat. "Shit--"

Kakashi put a hand on Sauske's shoulder. "Go in there now and you'll be disqualified before you step in the ring." Sasuke glowered. "He's going to die!" His shoulder was released as Kakashi stepped onto the railing, looking around as Gai and Asuma took the same position of the ANBU and jounin around the arena. Sasuke shot up. "Didn't you see him earlier? Don't you know what he can do?! He can kill Neji without blinking an eye right now! It wouldn't matter how fast you got down there!"

"He's right."

Kakashi and Gai looked at the sixteen-year-old blonde standing between them with startled expressions. Naruto looked down at Gaara with slit eyes. "Gaa-chan acts on reflex. And if anyone other than me got down there now and startled him, the sand would squish Neji-kun without a second thought." Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Then you have to stop him!" Naruto blinked his eyes open and smiled at Sasuke's concern. "Why? It's obvious that Gaa-chan's won." Sasuke glared and turned to the arena as Gaara turned towards where Naruto was standing. Their eyes met and Naruto grinned widely.

_/Let 'im go. I'll meet 'cha at the chairs. It'll be set up by then./_

'_Good. How much time do you need?'_

_/I'll let'cha know when./_

_**/Let's move, brats, we have an illusion to set and two old farts to kill./**_

'_You know once we're done, everyone here will want to kill us. Including those you're standing by,' _muttered Gaara to himself as he had the sand shift Neji around, crunching his right leg and dislocating his shoulder in the process.

_/We know. It'll be more fun to get away from all them, though, won't it?/_ Gaara thought about it and grinned as he made the sand drop Neji on the ground as he brought his hand to the Hyuuga's face.

'_Absolutely_.'

Before Neji could even process the progression of Gaara's fingers, he was unconscious, and Gaara caught him as the sand fell to the floor per his silent command. The fight was announced over and Gaara sent a glare up at Sasuke and Kakashi before he lowered himself into the small amount of sand that he'd saved and disappeared from the field.

Sasuke ignored Kakashi's warning and leapt over the railing to the grounds as the medic team crowded around Neji. His leg was put in a quick splint and someone was working on his shoulder. Neji's eyes were shut and Sasuke looked down on his friend as Gai was called down to the field. The medic whispered something to Gai and the jounin paled. "You ... you're sure?" The medic looked at the floor. "It's not as bad as it seems. There will be things we can do, but his family--the Hyuuga--will not be pleased at all ..." Sasuke turned his head sharply. "What?" The doctor hurried away with Neji and the other medics as Gai was left with Sasuke on the field, the announcer calling 'Kakanzi' down.

"What is it?" Gai turned everywhere but Sasuke's concerned gaze. "What is it?! Tell me!" Gai took a step towards the stands.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said, "I will tell you at the end of these exams. Find me after your victory." He gave Sasuke a weak thumbs-up and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Sauske turned to see the man in a tall, black cloak standing a few feet to the left of the announcer. He felt the rage rise up in him, and he stormed over. His eyes were dark and his hands clenched into fists. His blood demanded revenge be taken, and he stood before his opponent, eyes flaring with a boiling hatred that had no name and hands curled into weapons of destruction as chakara roared almost visibly about him. The wind howled and danced as the air pulsed with Sasuke's emotions, the need to reduce something to a bloody heap growling fiercely in his veins and his opponent simply shook his head.

* * *

Gaara slunk out of the wall, sand pouring from his newly-formed gourd. Naruto looked up at him from the floor. "Ah. Just in time. I'm all set. Let 's go!" The two kages were observing the matches below them when Gaara stepped up next to the hokage and the third looked at him with surprise. "Aah--Gaara of the Grass. You fought well last match. I'm afraid that you've angered Neji-kun's family, however, and his father would like a word with you, along with one of the young men fighting now ..." The third turned back to the battle as sand shot over his mouth and eyes. Naruto, still holding the illusion, had the rest of the stadium watching the match between Itachi and Sasuke. Any ANBU or jounin that looked at the kages would see just the two men facing down on the battle with veiled expressions. Naruto caught a glimpse of the battle as Gaara prepared to squeeze the life out of the two men behind him. Sasuke was blindly attacking Itachi and still hadn't figured it out. Naruto turned back to their job and transferred a bit of the Kyuubi's chakara into his hands and his palm shifted, muscles expanding and steel-tight sinewy claws inched out with a refreshed sigh. Naruto toyed with the hand for a moment before slicing the head of the man left of the Hokage. He caught it and sniffed it, frowning. With a few quick motions, he sliced off the face mask and grinned. "Hey, look!" Gaara and the third turned their heads to stare upon Orochimaru's face. The third paled. Naruto laughed. "I win! I got the snake-guy!" Gaara rolled his eyes. "Quiet. Let's get the old man and go." Naruto nodded, walking over to the third as he crowd told him that Sasuke had been thrown against the wall of the stadium. The third looked up at Naruto, the rest of his body being held by the sand, and he gave Naruto a small smile. "You l-look ... just like your father."

Naruto blinked and smiled. "Ok. 'Bye now,old man!" The hokage gave a small laugh and then shut his eyes as Naruto picked his head up from his shoulders and put it next to Orochimaru's. Gaara looked down at the field as the crowd told him that Itachi was talking to Sasuke levelly now. "You think he's about ready?"

Naruto grinned. "If he's not, we're in trouble." They stuffed the heads into two separate bags and Gaara slung them over his shoulder as Naruto ran his bloody claw/hand down the Hokage's seat. The blood from Gaara's sand stained the stone and left most of the blood on the chairs as it sept back into his gourd. Naruto pulled Gaara into a hug. "If I die, I want you to put ramen on my grave," he said seriously, "everyday. Otherwise, I'll have 'kaa-san haunt you."

_**/What am I, a bulldog?/ **_

_/Actually, you would be a fox./_

Gaara grinned as Naruto stepped away and his fingers and nails shrunk back to normal. "This is it," he muttered, and he shut his eyes as the illusion crumbled away.

* * *

"You're still weak as I remember." Sasuke skirted onto the sand and looked up at his opponent with a glare. "You said that earlier in the forest of death! You don't know **anything** about me!" Itachi waited until he was half an inch away to sidestep him, catch his collar and pin him to the ground.

"There are a thousand things I could do to you now and you know it," Itachi hissed as he nipped Sasuke's cheek with a kunai. The younger Uchiha didn't even flinch. Itachi still hadn't shown his face to his brother. He hoped that Naruto and Gaara were done, and kicked Sasuke against the wall. Sasuke fell down with a grunt and got to his feet.

"You're still looking for Itachi, aren't you?" Sasuke's eyes widened and he felt himself freeze at the name. Itachi narrowed his eyes behind his ANBU mask. "How sad. You still don't realize that it's a waste of time. You'll never best him if you can't even stand up to your jounin instructor. Itachi is far more powerful than him. You knew that, didn't you?" Sasuke pounded the ground with his fist. "That man was always three steps ahead of me. He excelled into the ranks of ANBU before he reached my age! I'm the same age he was when he left now! And I still don't have enough power!" He slammed a fist into the ground with no chakara and left a crater with a diameter of a meter. Itachi shook his head.

"I'm right here, baby brother." He tipped off his hat and pulled down the ANBU mask as Sasuke looked up in confusion. His eyes widened and then anger, fear, hatred, fury, blind fire gushed through him and he brought himself to his feet, eyes wild with a thousand emotions as the illusion behind him fell like a heavy curtain.

He swiveled around at Naruto's loud cry of '**_Banzai_**!!!' and dodged the blonde as he landed in the arena where Sasuke had stood. Gaara was three feet behind him and landed silently, a bloodstained bag in one hand and the other in Naruto's.

The ANBU turned to the place where the two kages had sat and were frozen with shock at two bloodstained thrones of red. Naruto turned to Itachi and handed him the bag. "They were easy as cake," he said, smiling. Itachi took out the third's head, and shook his own head. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he slid the detached thing into the bag again. However, the ANBU had seen it. They swarmed over the Hokage's seat and then froze, staring down at the three in the center of the arena.

Hinata and Tenten stood up on their seats, eyes wide. "Hey," shouted Tenten, "why is Naruto-kun in the ring? There's a fight going on!"

Hinata blushed and frowned. "N-Naruto-kun and G-Gaara-kun, both," she stuttered. Lee frowned. "Something is not right," he said, "I will find Gai-sensei and ask him what to do!" He disappeared from the two girls as Kiba and Shino ran over with Sakura and Ino.

"Hey, you two, what's going on?! I thought this was a one-on-one battle between Sasuke-san and that guy! Why's the blonde and the red head in the ring now?" Shino observed the battlefield.

"I think they're not planning on fighting," he muttered.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Who's on the field? I thought Kakanzi-san looked different before ..."

The red-eyed man turned and glared up into the stands, a silent challenge, and then fixed his gaze on one man. Kakashi froze as Itachi's eyes met his and he was caught in their gaze before he could tear his eyes away and he found himself sitting next to Itachi on the day they'd been made ANBU. Itachi was sitting next to him, laughing as Iruka danced around with a seven-year-old Naruto and Gaara, and the black-haired boy leaned over and pinned him down with six kunai. Kakashi stared up into the boy's eyes as they began to swirl. "You will relive this for three days ..." As Kakashi looked up, Naruto and Gaara and Iruka turned towards him and began to tear at him with kunai and claws and fangs and blood dribbled down his face as Itachi smiled eerily down at him, a smooth hand running down the side of his face. "I miss you, Kakashi," he whispered with a smile as he thrust a kunai through his throat.

Kakashi fell to his knees, Gai yelling and grabbing his arm. "_Kakashi_! Asuma-kun, come here and help!" Kakashi shook so badly that both jounins had trouble holding him up. His gaze was distorted and his eye kept running away from one thing and looking to the next. His hand twitched as it ran to finger the kanji on his forearm. The exposed eye stopped on the small form of Naruto standing in the middle of the arena.

The blonde bowed to the stadium and pretended to tip a hat.

"Ladies and fools, thank you for being so patient while we played with you. You may now break out in panic and fear."

He bowed and slung the bloody bag over his shoulder and Itachi put a hand on the boy's shoulder and Gaara's and looked at Sasuke.

"These two have earned the right to be called 'brother,' Sasuke. You'll do good to at least become stronger than Kakashi first. But I doubt you'll even get that far." He turned to the arena and sent a strange, silent look at Kakashi before the three shot straight into the air and a gust of wind blew them from the top of the stadium. There was a blast of red and everything erupted in pandemonium.

Sasuke sat on the field, looking blankly into space where Itachi had stood.

Where Naruto had stood with a bloody sack in his hands.

That brilliant smile and those bright blue eyes had been full of a hunger for blood unlike he'd seen even in the eyes of his brother.

He felt himself shudder and heard an older boy next to him, but he couldn't handle anything so heavy. Iruka caught him as he fell towards the ground.

The ANBU had fled the stadium and the majority of the jounin were on the trail of the three already. Chuunins and Shikamaru and Chouji helped hoard the younger children to a safe place where they could still get a good view of what was going on. Kakashi caught up with Iruka as he dragged the immobile sixteen-year-old into the emptying stadium. "Iruka! What are you doing here? I thought Gai took you to the hospital!" Iruka smiled. "Gai-kun's out looking for Naruto right now. And look, what a pretty shade of red it is." He nodded up at the Hokage' seat and Kakashi's eyes widened. Something Iruka had told him just a few minutes ago came flashing back in front of his eyes.

"_He's going to paint his father's throne red ..." _

Kakashi looked upon the throne of blood with a shudder as Iruka sat next to Sasuke, taking the boy's shoulders and shifting him to get a clear view of his face.

With a weak smile, Iruka looked up at Kakashi. "Hey, wanna know something?"

Kakashi looked down at Iruka sharply. "Hm? Iruka, I don't have time for this!" Iruka frowned. "It'll only take a second. Wanna know something?" Kakashi was about to simply take off in favor for perusing Itachi, Naruto and Gaara when he froze.

"_He's coming back." Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "Who?" Iruka looked at the window._

"_Naruto. And he's got a friend. Isn't that sweet?"_

_Iruka laughed and pointed at the window, as if it was obvious._

"_I see them." _

_He smiled and looked out the window. "They're coming, Kakashi. They're coming back."_

Iruka had known. Kakashi looked down at the chuunin with a wide eye. Iruka had KNOWN. But how? How? He had been in the hospital, and neither Naruto or Gaara had been sighted in Konoha anytime before this for almost ten years. **How**? He had said something that seemed unclear but now it was obvious. _"They're coming back."_ They had come back--they had returned to Konoha, only to kill the Hokage. Only to kill ...

Kakashi snapped out of his trance when Iruka made a noise of discomfort, holding his head in his hands. Kakashi dropped to his knees next to Iruka, eye searching the chuunin's face with worry. Iruka's eyes shut and then blinked open, his irises dilated and shock-blue. With a sad gaze, Iruka ran a hand through Sasuke's hair, the shivering teenager turning over in his unconsciousness. "He won't tell you." Kakashi looked to Iruka's cold, blue, glazed eyes. "... who?" Iruka looked down at Sasuke and the teenager's fingers twitched in his sleep. He mumbled a word that Kakashi couldn't decipher and Iruka looked down on him with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry ... he can't tell you until the Dawn ..."

* * *

"What's the status?"

Asuma cursed. "We've got to pull back. They didn't even leave a trail and we're losing ANBU left and right. There's a pile of dead bodies up to my shoulders." Anko glared around, managing to look menacing in crutches. "Shut up! We have our objective and if we let up now, we take the blame and the shame! We'll die trying to avenge the third!" Asuma shook his head as Ibiki pushed her into a sitting position.

"You shut up for a minute. Gai, Asuma, get Kurenai and call the others back. We have to regroup and think up a new strategy. Itachi's obviously leading those two boys, what were their names--Gaara and Naruto." Gai shook his head. "Who would have thought that Uchiha Itachi would sink so low as to poison the minds of such innocent youth?" Asuma lit a cigarette as Ino's mother and father came from the left and apologized before reporting that they had lost all track of them. Ibiki bit his lip. "I want anyone who has a lead to speak up now!"

"They're heading back to headquarters," said Kakashi as he appeared in a swirl of smoke. Gai and Asuma turned to face him sharply as Anko glared at him from the ground. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be handling the situation back--"

"I've dealt with this before." Kakashi turned to Ibiki and the white-haired man who was approaching from the village, "I've had to face Itachi and both of the boys multiple times. I bet I know more about their tactics than anyone else here." Anko bit back her comments and glared at the ground. Ibiki turned to Kakashi. "Then what do you suppose we do? We only have a few hours before the word gets around that both Sand and Leaf are kage-less. We'll need a new Hokage within three days." He turned to the tall man with white hair. "I trust that you'll take care of that business?" The man nodded and disappeared. Kakashi turned to Ibiki.

"I need you, Anko, Asuma, and Kurenai to stay here, above anything else. I know where they're going, but they can't be stopped." Ibiki glared. "What?"

Kakashi pulled back his headband and activated his shiringan. "If anyone comes, it has to be a Hyuuga or Gai. They will be better suited to help if Itachi decides to attack." Ibiki glared. "What about the Inuzuka? They can track more efficiently than relying on a hunch you have." Kakashi turned to Gai and the white-eyed man to his left. "Hiashi, Gai, will you come with me?" The two men nodded. Gai gave Asuma a worried look and then turned to Kakashi. "You'll be careful, my rival--you didn't look as well as you do now back at the stadium." Kakashi nodded, frowning. "I'm fine. That was a fluke, and it won't happen again." Gai and Hiashi exchanged looks at his steel-cold tone of voice before nodding to each other and agreeing to follow their comrade. Kakashi turned to Ibiki.

"While we have no Hokage, I will act to help keep my village safe, and I would first want to protect my village from those who took the lives of my leader, but I'm the only one that knows where they're going. Take the rest of the ANBU back to the village and set up a defense system. We'll return, if I'm right or not, within an hour." He shot off before the man could protest and Ibiki cursed. Trying to redirect his anger, he shouted at the remaining people around him. They stood like animals caught in spotlights before bounding off towards the village.

Ibiki put a hand to his head--he was surrounded by idiots.

* * *

end.

* * *

Please don't flame or complain for slowness, I'm very, very, very sorry, and I'm also very, very, very lazy. I also have school. (living in FL, Buhholtz hi, Gainesville, if anyone wants to come hunt me down and kill me. :) ) Next chapter, **AKATSUKI**, will feature some surprising news about Neji and some more surprising fights against Itachi, and I'll have to keep working, won't i? :) this is fun--and hard. Here's a preview of the next chapter!

Sasuke looked down at Neji as the other boy unwravled his bandages, and blinked his eyes open for Sasuke.

His black, lifeless eyes.

o)0--o)0

Itachi's eye twitched. "We're going on a _survival training_ mission?"

Naruto nodded. Gaara was suspicious. Haku didn't care. Itachi shook his head.

'_Why can't he ever just say he's giving us the week off?' _he thought to himself.

o)0--o)0

Sasuke looked over and froze at the sight that met his eyes. On his sensei's arm was kanji carved with a kunai. A name. His brother's name.

"Why?"

"Because it happened."

o)0--o)0

Please tune in for the next exciting installment! :)


	8. Akatsuki

**CHAPTER 8: Akatsuki**

thanks for reading so far and being so patient!!! I really, really appreciate all of you who put up with me updating so slowly!!! But I really, really struggle to write these chapters and edit them ... I love to edit, and so I usually write a chapter, and then edit it, which takes as much time as writing, so you're actually waiting for twice longer than you should be ... T-T I'll try to go faster, I promise ...

**WARNING** : about my crappy writing ... I can't seem to get anyone in character ... So--This chapter mostly a **lot** of OOC because I can't write anyone in their own personalities ... I don't own anything or anyone, except perhaps the Akatsuki members, whom I made up. Gomen! But please enjoy the story anyway.

* * *

.

Kakashi led Gai and Hiashi behind him. Konoha's forest was thick and full of many available and convenient hiding places, yet Kakashi sped on past them all with the single-mindedness that only a jounin could maintain. Gai and Hiashi didn't question his motives or the bursts of speed that he'd put on sometimes and the three traveled in silence as they made their way through the vast forest area. After ten intense minutes of traveling as fast as they could, Gai jumped in front of Kakashi. Kakashi glared and slowed down until they were stopped. "Gai ..." The jounin shook his head. "As your rival and jounin comrade, I have the authority to ask our destination. Hyuuga-san must also be curious. Where are you leading us?" Kakashi looked into the deep forest and ran a hand down his arm before speaking at Gai. "You remember?" Gai blinked in confusion. "Hm?"

"You remember Itachi."

Gai's eyes narrowed. "Aa. I can remember him ..."

Hiashi stepped forwards, interrupting what looked like the beginning of a long silence. "What is this about? Is it relevant to finding the murders of our Hokage?" Gai glanced sideways at Kakashi. "It may affect whether we return alive or not," he muttered, secretly hoping that seeing Itachi wouldn't have a negative effect on Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin had been more than stunned to see him at the chuunin exams, and if he reacted to just the sight of the black-haired Shiringan user ... who knew what affect it would have on his fighting skills.

"Come," called Kakashi suddenly, snapping out of his reserve, startling the other two, "we'll keep moving. It's not far now."

Gai and Hiashi exchanged a concerned look and followed Kakashi into the forest.

Kakashi finally led the two with him into the open of a clearing. They stopped in front of a lake and Kakashi turned to Hiashi. "Activate your Byakugan. Tell us if you see something." The Hyuuga nodded and activated his Byakugan. He looked around and his eyes widened. "It's ... it's the most complex system of genjutsu ... layers upon layers of illusion and genjutsus that I've never seen before ... It's all so incredible." He sounded amazed and afraid and respectful all at the same time, somewhat dazed at the amount of genjutsu he was faced with. "I'm not sure if anything would even faze it," he muttered to himself, unaware of Gai and Kakashi staring into the empty space he was oogling, "it's beautiful, and yet ... all these complex illusions, even if one was broken, there would still be countless more to back it up ... I don't--I don't know where you would even start dispelling it."

Gai shrugged, clasping his hands together. "Then let us start by simply trying. KAI!!!" Nothing happened. Kakashi frowned. "It's as I thought. We can't find them ..."

There was a moment of silence and a snicker sounded in the air. "Oh, but you found us!" Naruto dropped out of the sky and landed thirty feet from Kakashi and the other two jounin, slowing down a few inches above the ground and leaving no indent in the soil whatsoever. Gai's eyes narrowed. "So this is--"

"Where is the other one?" Hiashi shouted over Gai. Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Eh? Nani?" Hiashi's glare would not soften. "You know of whom I speak. The other boy from your team! Where is he?"

"Yes?" Gaara stepped out from behind Naruto. All three jounin's eyes widened in shock. When had he gotten there? Naruto pointed at Gaara. "This guy? Why do ya' wanna see him?"

Hiashi shook with rage. "You--you don't know what you've done ..." Kakashi looked at Gai and the green-clan jounin nodded, putting a firm grip on Hiashi's shoulder as the white-eyed man shook with suppressed fury. "Gai, let me go."

"I cannot. You must contain your rage, no matter how much you long to make him pay. Don't think you're the only one who wishes vengeance against him."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "What the heck are you talking about? Did that old man mean so much to you?" Naruto looked at Gaara out of the corner of his eyes. "I think they're talkin' 'bout Neji-kun." Gai gripped the Hyuuga's shoulders as he jerked forwards, eyes wide with white-hot killing intent.

"You've blinded him!"

* * *

.

Sasuke was running through the hospital ward, Iruka's hand in his left and a forgotten headband in the other. '_Neji ... where are you?_' Kicking open a door, he threw himself and his teacher down a long hallway and heard voices in the second to last room on the right. He froze outside of it, hand twitching over the handle. Slowly, the door clicked and creaked open.

Inside, Neji was lying back on a bed with a bandage around his head. His hands were on his stomach, and in them were several bloody tissues. The two doctors in the room looked at Sasuke's face and concluded upon making a hasty exit. When they were gone, Sasuke made Iruka sit in a chair and went over to Neji.

"Hey, what happened?" Neji turned his head towards Sasuke and smiled softly. "Sasuke ...you came to see me."

Sasuke nodded. "No one told me what's going on. Neji, the exams are over, something--Naruto and Gaara and ... and ..."

Neji shook his head. "Sasuke, they didn't tell you ..."

Sasuke shook, blind rage bubbling to the surface. "My brother ... my brother was here and I ..." Neji turned towards Sasuke and grabbed his hand awkwardly. Sasuke looked down at Neji as the other boy unraveled his bandages, and blinked his eyes open for Sasuke.

His black, lifeless eyes.

"Sasuke, I'm blind."

* * *

.

Gaara and Naruto looked at each other. "How?" **_/That should be impossible!! You didn't touch his eyes .../_** Gai turned to Gaara, shaking with his own anger. "When you pressed your hand to his head and used chakara to knock him out, his visual tissues were disrupted ... and no current medical techniques can undo the damage."

Naruto pouted. _/Oh./_ "Aa ... we're sorry. Really." Gaara nodded, looking at the ground. _'I ... I didn't mean to ...'_ Kakashi took a step forwards.

"We have bigger issues to worry about. One man is a loss, the Hokage was our defeat. We're open to attack now--the sand, the sound, grass, rain, anyone! We need a new Hokage now, and the first act from them will be to avenge the third by bringing you in for punishment."

Naruto and Gaara looked to each other quickly and shook their heads. "Na-uh," said Naruto, waving a finger, "we won your game. Now we're gonna finish playin' our other game!"

Kakashi's gaze was set and dark. "I'm not playing games, Naruto. I can take you quietly, or I can take you in unconscious."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. His sand burst from the gourd and shot at Kakashi, and a black blur knocked him out of the sand's path. Itachi shot off to stand next to Gaara and Naruto. Naruto brightened and laughed. "Itachi-chan! You're here!"

Kakashi got to his knees and then discovered Itachi had dislocated him when he pushed him out of the sand's path. Setting his left leg, he shot a glare Itachi's way and muttered to the two on his right, "stay clear of his eyes." Gai and Hiashi nodded, both still fuming with unspent anger. Gaara meerly shut his eyes and crossed his arms.

Itachi looked at the two next to him. "We're done. You have what we came for?" Gaara nodded and handed him a bloody bag. Itachi took out the third's head and nodded without emotion. This was the man who'd put a price on his head without pausing to even consider the possibility of his innocence. "Good." He dropped it in the bag and looked at Naruto. "Let's see the kazekage, then." Naruto lifted a head up and grinned

"Lookit, Gaa-chan, it's the snaky-guy again!"

Kakashi looked up and Itachi's eyes were the widest he'd ever seen then. What he was staring at was a man's severed head--a man that Kakashi didn't know.

The first thing that swept over Itachi was relief. The second was envy. The third was anger. Relief that his search no longer had a meaning. Envy that Naruto had been able to kill the man who'd alluded his grasp for almost ten years. Anger that now he had very few reasons to remain or even return to the Akatsuki. Itachi tried to clear these thoughts from his head, but it was hard; for the first time in almost ten years, he felt relieved of a huge burden, one he'd thought to have only released when he himself had done the deed. Itachi shook his head, and then turned back to Naruto.

"... you have the head, Naruto, of Orochimaru. One of three legendary Sennin. Do you realize what this could mean?" Naruto looked at the head and wrinkled his nose.

"I realize that he smells funny," he said, turning his nose away from the thing. Itachi pulled the bag back over the head and pushed it into Naruto's hands. Some angry and proud and jealous and frustrated emotion bubbled up in Itachi's chest and he dared not look at the thing which disgusted him for so long, fearing that if he did, he might burst. Itachi spoke in a rough whisper. "We're done here. Let's go back."

Naruto looked over the lake longingly at the place where Infinity Fortress lay, hidden among genjutsu, waiting for him. "But it's been so long ..."

Gaara looked up and his eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, as if in concentration, and Naruto turned his gaze over at the red head. "Didja call him?" Gaara nodded. Gai tensed and looked around, expecting that they'd called for backup, but a young girl wearing a bright butterfly hairpin walked out from behind them and skipped over to Gaara and Naruto, laughing and began exchanging kind words with all three.

It was a reunion among friends, although murderers; they spoke as if the breath on their lips was their first with each other in a long time, in tones that spoke nothing of the jounin before them.

Kakashi cleared his throat and called Naruto's name. The blonde turned around and smiled. "Hm?" The silver-haired jounin took out a kunai. "We have to take you in. You've killed someone. Will you come with us quietly?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I told you, I won your game. You're too late to try and play now."

"You'll come whether you make sense or not."

The three jounin shot forwards, knowing full well the power the blond held, but were not prepared for the red head to block every one of their attacks himself. Itachi caught Hiashi's eye but the Hyuuga tore his gaze away before he could activate the Shiringan. The dark-haired man disappeared when Hiashi's head was turned, Haku disappearing in the same fashion at the same time. When Kakashi and Gai came at Gaara, kunai in one hand and the other holding some blur of color, Gaara simply sent out a wave of chakara and it knocked them into the trees behind them. Hiashi grunted and got to his feet as Gaara disappeared, and Naruto looked around, sweat dropping, the last one left.

"Aa. I gotta go now. Tell everyone that I said 'bye!"

With a poof of smoke, he was gone. Kakashi looked around, glaring. "Someone's still here." Hiashi scanned the area but winced and fell to the ground as something dropped on his back from above and knocked him unconscious. Kakashi jumped to the right and Gaara landed where he'd stood, hands catching the floor and propelling him back up towards the jounin. Kakashi froze as the sand crept up over Gai, getting a firm hold on him. Kakashi jumped away from Gaara but Gaara turned and instead went towards Gai.

"Go back or I'll kill him," hissed Gaara, glaring at Gai, "You threaten Naruto. You can die." Gai bit back a cry of pain and shouted to Hiashi in vain. "Hyuuga-san! Are you all right? Hiashi!" The white-eyed man didn't stir and Gai felt anger and worry surge through him as he struggled desperately to remove himself from the sand's grip. Kakashi skidded to a halt a few yards away from Gaara, a glare in his eye. "Where's Naruto?" Gaara crossed his arms. "Go back or I'll kill him." Kakashi took a step forwards, hand gripping a kunai. "Where's Itachi?" The sand contracted slightly as Kakashi edged forwards.**_ 'This fool has no idea who he's dealing with,'_** grumbled Shukaku, irritated at the little gnat of a man they kept running into. **_'If he doesn't go back now, I'll squash him like a fly.'_**

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Go. Back."

Kakashi frowned. "You're just a sad, little boy. If you leave me no other choice, I'll kill you and Naruto without hesitation to avenge the Hokage's death."

Gaara's eyes widened and he snapped.

Gai tumbled to the ground, mouth open in a silent groan as the sand released him in favor for flinging itself at the silver-haired jounin across from him. Kakashi felt fear grip him and his attack plan fell apart around him. The onslaught of the sand was like watching a desert typhoon headed straight at the one place you stood, and three faces flashed in his mind before a black blur knocked him down and out of the way. Gaara recovered his cool and quickly redirected the sand to catch Gai, and it knocked him out.

Kakashi stared up into Itachi's eyes as the Shiringan began to swirl and he found himself lost to a world of nothingness. Looking around, he realized that he was in Itachi's world. His body was sixteen years old again, and Itachi's was fourteen. The younger boy was accompanied by yet again Iruka, Naruto, Gaara, and this time Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata. Itachi looked up at Kakashi, who had become tied down to a table, and smiled widely. "You'll relive this for three days," he whispered in Kakashi's ear with a smile as each of the children took out weapons and began to attack him. Naruto and Gaara set fire to his legs, the white-hotness searing through the skin and muscle to the bone. Hinata and Sakura tore at his arms with glee and kunai, painting his arms and their hands with dark blood. Sasuke's eyes were wild and filled with a crazed bloodlust as he slashed Kakashi's shoulders and stomach. Iruka laughed as he ripped through his chest and tore out his lungs. Itachi reached a hand over his bloody chest and pulled out the still beating heart, and held it for a moment, his eyes betraying a flicker of emotion even within the illusion, before clenching his hand and causing it to explode all over Kakashi's face. As the blood ran over his face, Kakashi felt something shatter inside himself and Itachi's face smiled down at his apologetically before everything was suddenly clean and the black-haired boy walked up to him again, wearing the same smile as the six he knew came back to tear at him again with glee and spite and he fell into his own darkness.

Itachi shut his eyes as Kakashi shook on the ground. Gai and Hiashi were quiet and unconscious and Gaara was tying them up with a simple rope. Naruto came back with Haku to see what was taking so long. When they entered the clearing, Itachi was sitting by Kakashi, Gaara was coming their way, and Haku ran over to Itachi as Gaara and Naruto talked together about being bored. Itachi waited until Kakashi had fully given in to the illusion to stand up and walk away. Haku took Itachi's arm with some small amount of motherly concern.

"I made more rice balls," he said softly, "you look like you just stabbed your brother." Itachi looked down at Haku and realized that he was wearing his emotions on his face again. With a practiced move, he cleared all feelings from him but numbness and Haku blinked at the way his eyes widened and then cleared themselves of everything but blackness. He smiled and took out some food and gave it to Itachi.

"Eat it," he pressed the other boy with a warm smile, "I promise, by the time you're done eating this, you'll feel better. Let's go." Itachi looked down at the rice ball and nodded, contenting himself to focus on eating the thing to forget his trouble.

Gaara and Naruto turned to the other two and the four took off, leaving Kakashi and the other two jounin alone in the forest.

Sasuke backed away from the bed. "Wha ..."

Neji turned towards Iruka. "Why's Iruka-sensei here? I thought he was supposed to stay in the hospital?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "But--you said you can't see ..." Neji tapped his forehead.

"I can still smell, hear, taste, and feel." Sasuke nodded slowly and walked over to the bedside. He put out a hand and Neji frowned, raising his own hands, and grasped the wrist and elbow awkwardly; obviously he'd wanted to take the hand. The now black-eyed boy sighed and shut his eyes, moving his hand along Sasuke's arm, the motion slow and clumsy. The black-haired boy gritted his teeth.

"Neji ... I'm sorry. Gaara's gone. Naruto's gone. And you..." he rose the hand Neji was groping blindly and withdrew it from his grasp. The pale boy jumped as the hand returned, but to his face, to run smooth fingertips against milky white skin. Neji flushed. "Sasuke, I-I'll be fine. I can still see a little with the Byakugan, but I ..." Sasuke didn't seem to be listening. Instead, he seemed to be preoccupied by the task of just trying to read Neji's hands for unsaid emotions.

"Sasuke?" When Sasuke looked up, he caught his breath. Neji's eyes were white again, but with a burning black ring in the middle where irises would have been.

"Neji?! What happened?" Neji blinked. "I activated my Byakugan. I can't see perfectly, but I get a blurry picture of chakara and shapes. It's interesting." Sasuke took put hand in front of Neji's face. "Can you see this?" Neji nodded. "Sure. Activate your Shiringan." Sasuke blinked his eyes shut and then opened them. Neji made a lo whistle and grinned. "Wow. It's like your eyes are on fire ..." He shut his eyes and they were black when he opened them again. Sasuke frowned. "Why didn't you keep your Byakugan active? I thought it was the only way you could see?" Neji grabbed Sasuke's arm again, although not as tightly as last time.

"Uhn ... well, excuse me if I don't have an unlimited reserve of chakara. They do take their toll, you know." Sasuke sat on the bed next to him, Neji scooting over as if anticipating his actions. Sasuke looked at his feet, unable to face the blind boy. "Neji, I have some things to tell you ..."

"So let me get this straight," muttered Neji a few minutes later, "Kanzaki was Uchiha Itachi, Gaara and Naruto have the mentality of five-year-olds, all three are together and killed the two kages, and your fool-for-a-teacher took my father and my instructor after all three of them?" Sasuke nodded. Neji shook his head.

"I'll never see any of them again. You ruin my life; I hate you," he grumbled, shoving Sasuke to the edge of the bed. The other boy refrained from hitting Neji back; he knew what it felt like to just be out of the emergency room. Instead, he spoke softly of his brother, and Neji came to know why Sasuke was so eager to kill one man.

Gai was the first to recover. He lifted his head from the ground, shaking the sand and dirt from his hair. With a jump, he recalled what his situation had been and looked around for the other two jounin, who he found unharmed save minor wounds. Hiashi was virtually unharmed, save the area around his neck where Gaara's fingers had dug into it. Gai had little trouble figuring out that he himself had sustained no physical wounds, and they were both glad to be in the state they were in.

They turned to Kakashi, who lay face-up on the ground, eye shut and forehead protector back in place. Gai and Hiashi gave each other nervous glances before checking him over for wounds. Once they'd confirmed his state of health, they tried to wake him up, and there they ran into a problem. Hiashi had scanned him with the Byakugan and his inner chakara system was natural. The only thing he could see was a slight coloring of his face and hands--it looked as if he'd been sweating a lot. Hiashi turned to Gai with a worried look.

"I don't think he was made to sweat this profusely from heat ..." The other jounin ran a hand over Kakashi's forehead and frowned. "I agree--he seems fine physically, but I still can't help but wonder if he'll be all right ..." The Hyuuga shrugged and hoisted the other jounin onto his shoulder, Gai catching his other arm and they shot into the trees back towards Konoha. "He seems to have been frightened of something."

Gai nodded. "Or perhaps for something."

The two spoke no more as they made their way back to the village that waited for them in silence.

"So, you made it back," taunted a voice as Itachi and the three teenagers walked through the Akatsuki hallways. Haku admired the wall they'd come in through and Naruto grinned, waving to the man in recognition. Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Of course we did, Makita. We're going to meet with Yuki--to report our success." Makita grunted and walked ahead of them.

Gaara ran a hand over the walls and made a soft noise. The feeling that rushed through him was one he'd only felt a few times before. It was like coming back to Infinity fortress. It was like going back to find Naruto smiling and waiting for him. It was like seeing the blonde and his loud weirdness and yet ... it was like coming home.

Naruto, Haku, and Itachi walked into the main room with Gaara a few steps behind them when Itachi stopped walking and fell in place with the green-haired Ryusho and the dark-eyed Soujirou. Makita stood at the end of the line with the two twins whose names Naruto and Gaara had never been informed, and Yuki stepped out of the wall, looking at the bags in their hands apprehensively. "Well?"

Gaara didn't blink, and stared straight into Yuki's eyes. "Mission complete."

Yuki felt a rush of excitement go through him as the boy before him answered mechanically, tugging the head of the Hokage out of his bag. Yuki eyed the bloody thing and then nodded. Soujirou relieved him of his prize and Gaara stood by Naruto. Yuki then frowned. "There was another in question. What of the Kazekage?"

Gaara looked over at Itachi who looked over at Naruto who stared down at the bag in his hands. "Well ... I dunno--I got the snaky-guy instead." He tugged out the head of Orochimaru and the amber-eyed man felt his grin widen.

In the silence that followed, Itachi hoped that Yuki hadn't seen the emotion flicker across his face.

The silver-haired man, however, had other things to occupy himself with._ 'This certainly wasn't planned,'_ he thought to himself, _'in fact, it might make things fall into more lovely chaos that I originally intended.'_

Keeping his air of nonchalance, Yuki shrugged and slid an approving glance their way. "Well, it's not what I expected, but it'll do." Naruto beamed at the slight praise and grinned at Gaara, who couldn't help but smirk back a little: Naruto wasn't the only one that liked being praised.

"And who is this?" Yuki asked sweetly, looking down at Haku with a questioning gaze. Haku bowed and turned to Naruto. "I was saved by Naruto-kun and Gaara-kun during their mission. I owe them my life. I shall follow them until they find me useless." The leader of the Akatsuki looked down at Naruto and Gaara in slight wonder. They had killed the Hokage and the Kazekage, and had taken a boy with them in the process ... saving a life, and Yuki shrugged, concurring that he would be allowed to stay as long as he was confined to stay with the two demons at all times. "Haku-kun will be allowed to stay as long as he remains out of sight. He will be confined to your rooms," he announced, looking pointedly at Naruto and Gaara, "and you will be responsible for him."

Gaara and Haku shared a similar look of happiness with Naruto as the three turned back towards the leader and bowed obediently. Thus, all three missed the sharp glare that Yuki sent at Itachi. They were then dismissed to their cells while Itachi stayed behind.

With the entire room vacant, Yuki stepped over towards the Uchiha and his eye twitched.

"I should kill you right now, you fool," he hissed through clenched teeth. Itachi bit back a reply and kept his eyes on the floor. The silver-haired man calmed his rage but kept the anger in the back of his mind in case Itachi had any wild ideas. "I know you sent me false information all those years," he hissed down at the Uchiha, "I knew you wouldn't be able to follow those brats. They're demons, Itachi; they're more powerful than you'll ever be."

Itachi's eyes widened and then narrowed slightly. He'd never told Yuki the true reason why he wanted to join the Akatsuki, and he'd never expected to actually ever reach his goal. With a forced bow, Itachi kept his emotion hidden and allowed the other man to shout down at him.

"You came to me because you wanted power beyond anything you could gain on your own. Your family expected great things of you, but you wanted more. And I gave it to you for one thing; so that you could achieve that goal! The goal to the best!" Itachi didn't move. "You told me you wanted to be the best, and I believed you, but now you don't have that fire anymore. You're not the best; therefore you should be striving to gain that strength! You should be boiling from working with demons, with beings with even an ounce of more power than you possess!! You should be thrilled at the power they offer and yet you work with them so mechanically! _Have you lost your purpose_?!"

This time, Itachi blinked. Was that concern under Yuki's anger? The Akatsuki leader ranted on. "And furthermore, I put you on that mission, knowing full well that you wouldn't be able to follow those two!" Itachi flinched. Ouch. "You're losing your edge, Itachi. I'm putting you on another mission, and it's directly associated with those two again. It will be for you and you alone--" His eyes were blazing with such fury at Itachi's weakness that the latter had to strive not to shake under the older man's onslaught of shouts.

"For the next month, you will train exclusively with the demons until they've shown you all of their techniques!"

Itachi's eyes widened a sliver. He dared a question. "Why?"

"I want you to know it ..."

Itachi blinked and looked up into Yuki's eyes with confusion before their piercing amber gaze caught his and he felt the breath sucked out of him, the light and little bit of confidence torn from his chest, everything he held onto slowly trickling away from him and Yuki held the gaze with only the ferocity of a blood-lusting animal.

"I want you to know the weight I must bear. I want you to know the meaning ... of being the best."

* * *

.

"Wow, look!" Gaara unfolded his scarf and laid it out in the corner of the room, sort of marking his territory. Naruto was dragging Haku around the Akatsuki and had come back to their room, spotting Gaara and laughing with the taller mist-nin as they headed over. The red head looked up and gave Haku a short nod before turning to greet Naruto with a smile. Naruto beamed and tackled the other boy to the ground. Gaara made a noise of distress as they crashed to the ground, much to Haku's amusement, tangled in each other's arms like lovers. The blonde pulled his head up out of the mess and gasped for air, looking around in confusion.

"Gaara-chan?"

Gaara shoved Naruto off his back and rolled over as the blonde spotted him and glomped him accordingly. Gaara melted into the warmth--it was still cold as heck in their damn rooms. Haku didn't seem to mind, however, and was content with the business of making himself a bed.

"Whaddo you wanna do now?" Gaara glanced over at Naruto silently--his eyes spoke volumes, their gaze already clouding to make way for dreams, and Naruto knew what Gaara wanted to do. Sleep.

"Uh, Haku-chan?" Haku looked up with a bright smile. "Hm?" Naruto gave him a blanket and sat next to Gaara. "We're gonna sleep now--er, Gaa-chan's gonna sleep. So stay over there and try to sleep!" Haku nodded; it had been a long way coming and he felt in need of a rest. As he lay his head down, his eyes shut and dreams came.

Naruto put Gaara's head on his shoulder and the other boy instead put his face in the crook between his neck and shoulder and Naruto laughed. "H-hey," he giggled, "that tickles!" Gaara ignored him and began to drift into sleep. Naruto brought a hand up to Gaara's head and ran a hand through his hair when Gaara's hand shot out to grab it. Naruto blinked in confusion and wondered what Gaara was doing. The red head clutched at the hand in his sleep and sighed almost inaudibly, rolling over in his dream. Naruto looked on his sleeping face and ran a hand over the dark marks around his eyes. The blackness didn't stain his fingers, and Naruto smiled, tracing a finger along the tattoo scarred into his forehead. Gaara slept on.

Shadows passed over Naruto's skin and he smiled as the Kyuubi growled in his belly and mind. **_/The moon ... how does the moon wane tonight?/ _**Naruto looked at the walls around him and shut his eyes. The wind howled through the trees outside and told him that owls were still inside their trunks.

"The moon is covered by clouds," whispered Naruto softly, "the owls cannot see, and they're waiting until the moon does show." The Kyuubi seemed satisfied and Naruto wondered briefly what the purpose of his question had been.**_ /Silly kit,/ _**it grumbled, **_/do I have to spell everything out for you? I wanted to see if you remembered how to tell things by nature. When the sky isn't full of owls then the moon isn't out. When the moon is out, they can see, and if the moon is enough for owls to hunt by, then the foxes and wolves can hunt./_**

Naruto nodded, recalling now the conversation he'd had with Gaara a few years ago about the demons teaching them as much as they could. "And if the foxes and wolves are out, you want me to practice my ƒoxish, right?"

**_/Exactly. And the other little one can practice as well./_**

_/Gaa-chan thinks ƒoxish is a weird language./_ The two chatted softly into the darkness for another ten minutes before Gaara woke, feeling refreshed and warm. Naruto looked down at him and smiled.

"∑elœvv†ie ß∆∂rr." (1)

"... Esçh √a∫d †ivvst neiñ," (2) Gaara grumbled sleepily. Naruto giggled.

"I know. Are you awake?" Gaara nodded, although his eyes remained shut.

"Naruto," he said suddenly, putting his head between Naruto's shoulder and neck, "I wanna see the sky again. I wanna go back to Snow ..." Naruto nodded. "I know whatcha mean ... I miss it. Let's ask Itachi-nii if we can go--Haku-chan can come with ..." Gaara nodded and looked up at Naruto's eyes.

Blue, unlike anything he'd ever find in the world, blue unlike the sea, unlike the sky, unlike the diamonds and sapphires and all the valuable things in life crumbled and made the stars that sparkled in the corner of Naruto's eyes, expanding into a vast expense of brilliance that, even in the dark, gleamed, warm and content with having nothing else in life, if only the red head would stay next to him.

And Gaara slowly brought his lips up to Naruto's head, placing them softly on his cheek. Naruto sighed and slid his arms around the boy as he shut his eyes slowly, sleep coming to him with the warmth of Gaara's body. Gaara removed his lips from Naruto's face and placed them on his head again, and then drew back, replacing his head in the crook of Naruto's neck, heat spreading through both boys quickly. Naruto wrapped his arms around Gaara--his Gaara.

_/**My** Gaara./ _

'_... hn.'_

In the darkness, dreams of a country crystal white wove a blanket of the near future and somewhere in Konoha, a brown-haired chuunin sitting on top of the hospital with a peeled apple in his hands smiled brightly.

"That's wonderful, Naruto. I hope you'll all have fun," he whispered sleepily.

* * *

..

Gai and Hiashi appeared in Konoha carrying their silver-haired companion and stopped at the sight of several people ahead of them talking to themselves. What surprised them was that Neji was in the group instead of being in the hospital. They approached them silently, listening in on their conversing. Sakura was gasping and talking loudly and with much concern. "Are you serious!? You can't see?" Tenten gasped in surprise and shock, and someone in a green jumpsuit made a startled comment.

Neji lifted a hand to his face and activated his Byakugan and the darkness in his eyes contracted into a ring where his pupil should have been and he smiled softly. "I can see a little ... but not as well as before." A purple-haired kunoichi shook and trembled as it spoke to him. "I-I'm te-terribly sorry, N-Neji-k-k-kun ..." The voice sniveled and sobbed a little while Sakura patted Hinata's back. "Hinata-chan, the doctors said that he'll get better in time, he'll be just fine ..."

Hinata nodded, and then mumbled to herself. Tenten looked at her curiously. "What'd you say?" She blushed and rubbed away her tears. "W-well, I s-said ... m-maybe w-w-we were wrong ab-bout Naruto-kun ..."

Shikamaru walked up to them, glancing over at where Gai and Hiashi were before groaning. "Oh, damn," he muttered as he pushed through the circle and all eyes followed over to where he ran. "Hey, isn't that--" Hinata blushed. "It's m-my uncle--Neji-kun's father!" Hiashi let Shikamaru take Kakashi and Gai asked if Hinata would held Shikamaru. The two nodded and made their way off towards the hospital. Gai and Hiashi came over to Neji, Sakura, Sasuke and a slightly confused Lee and Tenten. "What's going on?" asked Gai directly to Sasuke, "why is everyone just standing around?"

Hiashi marched up to Sasuke and gave him a glare that could freeze steam. "Why is my son here?" Neji flinched at the voice and looked up at his father with his Byakugan active and heard more than saw him gasp.

"Neji?!"

_(A/N: I know NOTHING about the Hyuuga house and so, for laziness reasons, Neji's father. Is. Hiashi.)_

Sasuke let go of his hand as Neji rushed to his father and accepted an embrace. The Byakugan faded and he blinked up blankly at his father. Hiashi's eyes clouded and he tugged Neji into a grip that the younger man returned. Sasuke felt his shoulders fall as he let out a breath of relief--he'd expected the Hyuuga to go ballistic on him, but Neji seemed to have a calming effect on his father and the two parted, Lee explaining what had happened while they were gone.

"First, the three missing-nins, including Naruto and Gaara, and Uchiha Itachi," he said slowly, watching Sasuke's face worriedly for angry or rash reactions, "fled. A fire broke out where the children were and Shikamaru-kun and Chouji-kun helped the children to safety. There have been no other incidents and the fire is out. All that's left is the damage reports," he finished, turning to Gai. "By the way, sensei, how is Kakashi-sensei?" Gai gave Hinata a thumbs-up and grinned. "He is my rival and a man of many talents--he shall be fine! For now, we will worry about you! The youth!" He grinned and struck a pose. Sasuke's eye twitched as Lee followed his example. Neji twitched, even though his eyes were black.

"They're posing, aren't they?" he muttered.

Sasuke grimaced. "You can't even see--how did you know that?" Neji shook his head. "I can tell ... been on his team a little too long ..."

Sasuke grabbed Neji's arm. The black-eyed boy gasped as Sasuke ran with his hand clenched tight as Sakura and Lee began to fight some distance behind them. "Hey! Where are we going so suddenly?" Sasuke was running but not so fast that the blind boy behind him couldn't follow. "To the hospital--I want to check up on that perverted fool of a teacher ..." Neji chuckled as they made it to the hospital and suddenly Sasuke stopped.

"Kuso--what the hell is he doing up there?!"

Neji frowned. "Who's doing what--Sasuke, why are you stopping--"

"Stay here," Sasuke muttered, putting Neij's hands on a fence post, "just stand there and keep your eyes shut. I'll be three seconds."

Suddenly he was gone. Neji stayed with his back to the fence, hoping that Sasuke would be back soon--he wouldn't want to have to use up his chakara by keeping his eyes active. He didn't need to worry, because as soon as he'd finished thinking about it, Sasuke landed next to him with something heavy in his arms. "Hey, get a load of this," he said, holding up the sleeping man. Neji reached out a hand to read the features of the person and froze as his fingers read the scar across the bridge of his nose.

"It's Iruka! Where did you go?"

"He was sleeping on the edge of the roof."

Neji made a face. "The surveillance of patient activity in this hospitable is disgusting."

Sasuke nodded his assessment. "Let's get inside."

They slipped past the receptionist and made their way through the wards, ignoring the suspicious gazes doctors and nurses gave them. Iruka was sleepily mumbling to himself and finally Sasuke stopped and pulled the three of them into a room. The room was empty, save a bed and two people. One was Kakashi, asleep on the bed. The other was Gai. Sasuke frowned, cursing mentally. He'd forgotten that jounins were still superior to him in speed. The black-haired jounin turned around and smiled at the sight. Neji was holding onto Sasuke's shoulder for support and his dark eyes were turned towards the floor, but his cheeks were stained a light red from the warmth of contact. Sasuke was holding onto Iruka and he slid the teacher into a vacant chair, and Neji's grip tightened with a cautious noise, fearful of losing his grip. And Sasuke stood back up, taking Neij's hand and the fear dissipated. Gai felt his smile disappear as Sasuke's gaze questioned Kakashi's state.

"Aa ... I regret, Sasuke-kun, not telling you about Neji-kun when you asked before." Sasuke nodded. "It's ok. What's wrong with this baka?" Gai frowned and crossed his arms. "It's very serious. He's been placed under a very strong genjutsu ... involving the Shiringan."

Sasuke's eyes widened and Neji felt him tense under his fingers.

"Sasuke?" he whispered quickly, sensing the hostility in the other boy's posture, "Don't leave me alone to run after him."

Sasuke turned to the black-eyed boy and shook his head. "I won't. I promise. I just ... he's just ..." Sasuke searched for the right words and then gave up. Neji swallowed as Sasuke fell silent, and jumped as a hand fell gently on his shoulder. "I won't leave you, Neji. I promise." The boy nodded quietly, turning his sightless gaze back towards where Kakashi lay.

"... what happened?" Gai sighed and told them both to sit down. He started at the beginning, in the stadium.

"Itachi looked at Kakashi-san twice before," said Gai evenly, "and the third time, I think the illusion was too powerful or too painful for even him." Sasuke stiffened and looked at the ground. Neji clutched at his arm, trying not to wince away at the magnitude of heat and anger that was rolling off Sasuke's body.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Said Gai suddenly in a commanding tone, "I invoke the authority that Kakashi has over you, and also the rank of jounin, to set upon you this mission. I am placing Hyuuga Neji under your care until his eyes heal. You will not leave the village, and you will not leave him for more than five minutes. Is that clear? This is a personal mission, and I will not accept a declination."

Sasuke looked stunned for a moment and then snorted. "Who said I was declining the stupid job? Come on, Neji, let's get out of here." Neji looked towards Gai and couldn't see the smile his face displayed as Sasuke dragged him from the room. As they walked through the halls, Neji smiled and poked Sasuke's back.

"Thanks," he whispered. Sasuke didn't respond but Neji could feel his body heat change and he knew the gennin was blushing.

Obliviously, Neji wondered why.

* * *

.

"Yuki-sama?"

The silver-haired man looked over at Naruto boredly. "Hm?"

The blonde bounced on his feet. "Weeeelll, Gaa-chan--er, Gaara--and me and Haku wanna go to Snow country. Is there a mission we can take that will put us there?" Yuki turned to the twins at his side and the two (somewhere along the way, they'd made it official that they were girls) scampered off and brought Yuki a scroll. The man looked over the scribbles and shrugged. "There's one here, but you'd have to take Itachi with you ..."

Naruto jumped into the air. "Yatta! We can do that! What's the mission?"

"...survival training. You have a week."

Naruto nodded, not catching Gaara's suspicious glance at the scroll before dragging him and Haku out of the main chamber.

* * *

.

Konoha had many bars, this one in particular was one that the white-haired man used to visit more than often in his youth. If memory served, Jiraiya had spent almost every other night in this joint with a hangover and women. Of course, the one sitting across from him with a slightly-plastered expression wasn't one he'd seen around this particular bar at all, if ever. The blonde downed a frightening amount of strong sake before slamming the glass down. Jiraiya sweat dropped and sipped a little of his own sake.

"Calm down. You're attracting attention." The girl hiccupped and shrugged.

"I dunn care. Why'ja wanna see me, Jir'ya-baka?" Jiraiya coughed and adjusted his cup, pouring himself more sake as he prepared himself to be thrown though a wall if she reacted the way he suspected she would. "Well, you know that since Naruto and Gaara took the lives of the third, we no longer have a Hokage." The woman downed some more sake and grinned at him. "Ya? Sa whattcha gonna wanna do ha'boudd it?" The white-haired man drank his sake and made a quick prayer before shutting his eyes and blurting it out.

"I need you to be the fifth Hoakge, Tsunade."

The blonde looked up at him, and for a moment, he wondered if she was faking being drunk before she flicked him in the forehead, sending him flying out of the bar. The other women there whooped and cheered for her, although she wobbled and grinned, not really caring what was going on.

"... _all right, ya perv ... I'll be Hok'ge_." She rose her glass to uproarious cheers and drank until she couldn't stand, and passed out.

Jiraiya nursed a bruised forehead and wondered if the village would ever forgive him.

* * *

.

Itachi's eye twitched. "We're going on a _survival training_ mission?"

Naruto was ecstatic. Gaara was suspicious. Haku didn't care. Itachi shook his head.

'_Why can't he ever just say he's giving us the week off?' _he thought to himself. "Well, since we only have a week, we might want to get going. Snow is giving a tour tomorrow, and there's train tickets we need to get. We'll come back by foot after you've learned a few things ... You two have your weights on?"

Naruto and Gaara nodded, tugging the black things closer around them, and then looked at Haku. Itachi knew what they were going to ask and before any of them could move, Ryusho was in the hallway, carrying something dark and made of cloth. Haku blinked as he caught the cloak tossed at him, wincing at the weight that it totaled. "I just guessed on the measurements," said the green-haired man as he winked at Haku, "but I figured you were 'bout the same size as these two." Gaara nodded his thanks to Ryusho as the man waved and disappeared down the corridor.

The Kyuubi, watching through Naruto's eyes, wondered suspiciously at the cackle the other man gave as he walked down the hallway.

"Let's set off," said Itachi and all four moved out.

.(lots of choppy sections here ...)

* * *

.

Sasuke made himself get up. Darkness was his companion at breakfast as he ate quickly, not bothering to look at his clock which announced in blaring red figures that it was three-thirty AM. He threw on a black shirt and slid into his sandals as he locked his house behind him and shot into the darkness of Konoha.

The first thing Tsunade had done was to place prices on Naruto, Gaara, Itachi, and possibly Haku, titling them as S-class missing-nins; if they hadn't been in the bingo book before, they certainly were now. Word spread like wildfire and both Suna and Konoha were getting frequented with more and more surprise attacks by Sound and Cloud, although most attacks came at night and were usually failed attempts at assassination of the new Hokage. Tsunade's second order of business had been to restrict hours that one could be out.

Sasuke knew that if he was caught, he could risk his gennin rank, but he had to see someone. Someone who had known his brother.

Landing silently on a roof top, he flitted along the thin railing and shot over the empty streets as a shadow, dark and silent. He'd made it two blocks before he stopped and hid himself behind a wall. Someone was on the next roof. The hospital roof. He used his Shiringan to see who they were before he cursed and jumped back as the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Jumping to where the clone had been, Sasuke searched for the one who'd made the clone and froze as a kunai pressed against his throat. A hand covered his mouth and a puff of smoke later, they were inside the hospital. The kunai dropped and Sasuke shot away from the grip before stopping to wonder at his captor. "Kakashi?" The jounin winced and sat down. "Gotta keep you out of trouble all the time, don't I?" Sasuke looked at the floor and cursed. He was internally debating over whether to thank his teacher for his 'rescue,' or beat him to a pulp for even being out of bed in his condition. Silence slid between them like a wall and Sasuke sent a glare at Kakashi, who kept his eyes on the ground.

"You knew him." Kakashi moved slightly. "You knew Itachi." The silver-haired jounin felt his eyes narrow and his chest clench, though from forgotten emotion or lack of breath it was impossible to tell. The gaze that Sasuke directed at him needed no contact--Kakashi felt its heat even with his head bowed. "Where is he? Where is the bastard who killed my family?" Sasuke stepped forwards, Shiringan flaring wildly for a moment as he forgot they were in a hospital, taking Kakashi's collar, forcing their gazes to meet, and glared malovently into both his eyes. He was startled when Kakashi actually flinched away, refusing for once to meet his student's challenge.

In past years, Sasuke would have tried to provoke his teacher. He would have pushed him until the other man got violent and force-fed him the harsh truth that he'd wanted to hear in the first place, placing the blame for his actions on Sasuke.

Sasuke had gotten smarter than that.

Years trying to befriend Neji had given him the ability to read eyes like books, and with shock, he caught the confusion, the hidden emotions, looked painfully down upon all the scars that he'd brought to the surface. The broken trust. The laughter. The pain. The loneliness.

The longing for a man who'd killed his own parents.

Sasuke dropped Kakashi's collar and the man fell against the floor. Before Kakashi could register what was going on, Sasuke had a kunai against his throat. "Tell me." Kakashi made a noise of disapprovement. "Th ... that's no way... to get information. You should know that." Sasuke glared and the Shiringan swirled angrily, causing Kakashi's eyes to display another flash of pain and Sasuke knew that his teacher was hiding something. "Tell me. Tell me what I don't know. Tell me NOW." Kakashi frowned and shut his eyes. "Some other time." Sasuke growled. The kunai bit into Kakashi's neck. Kakashi remained unmoved. With a sharp thrust, Sasuke embedded the knife into the wall next to Kakashi's head. The silver-haired jounin glanced at the blade next to him and the look on Sasuke's face before he sighed. _'I'm going to regret this_,' he thought to himself as he rolled down his sleeve.

Sasuke looked over and froze at the sight that met his eyes. On his sensei's arm was kanji carved with a kunai. A name. His brother's name. His mind reeled and a word escaped his dry throat.

"Why?"

"Because it happened."

"What? When?" The jounin was silent. Sasuke sat back against the wall. There was a story behind the name on his arm. He knew there was. And Kakashi let it unfold.

(**Author** **Warning**: This is an extremely crappy and sort of really bad flashback with lots of sap and OOC, so if you don't like it, it's all my fault, but it's the best I can do!!!)

**(FlashBack)**

"_Hey, loser, look up!" A girl squealed as a blonde boy was drenched in ice-cold water. From the roof, a boy with black hair sighed and flung himself down, a towel in his hands. As he landed, he put on a frown and thrust the towel into the drenched boy's face. _

"_Dry off, Naruto," he said softly, "Itachi-nii's gonna come pick us up soon." He sat down next to the little boy, giving him a supportive look that only brothers could share. Naruto smiled and took off his shirt to wring it. _

"_Thanks, Sasuke-chan." The small Uchiha hid a smile as Naruto threw on a semi-dry shirt over his spiky hair and they sat, waiting for Sasuke's brother._

"_Sasuke?"_

"_What?" _

"_Who's that?" _

_Both boys looked up to see Itachi walking towards them and another boy walking in step with him. It was a tall, silver-haired boy who looked a little older than Itachi. Both boys were wearing ANBU masks, and both boys were talking quietly to one another. They stopped in front of the two and smiled at Naruto as the blonde jumped up to greet them, enthusastically bounding over to glomp Itachi. The black-haired Uchiha laughed and hoisted the blonde onto his shoulders, taking Sasuke's hand and holding it as they left the academy and headed home. Sasuke was staring at the silver-haired boy when Naruto tugged on Itachi's shirt gently to get his attention. Looking up at the blonde boy who hung up-side down on his head, Itachi asked, "what?" Naruto pointed sideways. _

"_Who's that?" Itachi smiled and caught Naruto as he tumbled off his head. Itachi smiled at the boy in question. _

"_This is Hatake Kakashi. He's my friend and he's on the same Special Force team as me. He's captian because he's older, but I'm stronger than him." Kakashi laughed and grinned at him. "In your dreams." Both boys smirked at each other and then waved as they parted ways, Kakashi going off towards Iruka's house with the blonde in tow, Itachi to the Uchiha manor with Sasuke holding his hand. _

**(present)**

Sasuke frowned. "I remember that. That was years ago."

Kakashi nodded. "Let me continue."

**(FlashBack)**

_Kakashi dropped Naruto off at Iruka's, the blonde over-ecstatic to see the chuunin, and Kakashi made a lame excuse to leave them alone and go out. He was walking for no more than five minutes before another figure fell in step beside him. Both boys headed towards the training grounds. _

_There was a lake and a tree and other than that there was hills, but training ground 46 was mostly for practicing hand to hand combat. Kakashi slid off his weapons holster with a few smooth movements and then dove at Itachi with a grunt._

**(present)**

"So _that's_ where he went every time he left."

"... stop interrupting me."

"... gomen."

**(FlashBack --;;)**

_The two fought without pause for breath. Kakashi's punches were blocked as Itachi came up with new and interesting ways to land kicks on the jounin's back, at the price of a punch to the shoulder every now and then. Sweat gleamed on their fists as the blows flew back and forth, though none landed on the head or the neck, both avoiding dangerous contact instinctively. The clouds came and went, and finally they threw their last punches before collapsing on the ground. Kakashi resisted the urge to pant as Itachi kept his breathing silent and the two lay on the ground, neither willing to admit their weariness. Neither needed to, because in time, they began to speak softly of other things and their training was forgotten._

"_You think I'll ever be a teacher?"_

"_You think Gai'll ever get a hair cut?"_

"_I wish he'd get one now."_

"_Think Asuma'll ever start smoking?"_

"_That saint-freak wouldn't touch a cigarette to save his life."_

"_I bet you you're wrong."_

"_I bet you had sugar this morning." Itachi stopped and frowned. "How much do I owe you?" _

_Kakashi grinned. "6.59 ¥. Enough for the new Icha Icha Paradise." Itachi shook his head and instead of money pulled out a graphic novel. "How'd I know I was going to lose a bet to you today?" Kakashi shrugged. "When DON'T you lose to me?" Itachi frowned and rolled over onto his back. "Hn. Be quiet." Kakashi chuckled, nose in the new book, and they were quiet for some time._

"_Kakashi?"_

"_Mm?"_

"_... nothing."_

_Kakashi looked up. Itachi never talked without purpose; there was no asking for attention and then throwing it away with a 'nothing.' Itachi frowned. "W-what?" _

_Kakashi's suspicion doubled. "Since when do you stutter?" _

_Itachi cursed mentally and rolled away from Kakashi onto his stomach, looking at the grass. "Since when do you notice that I stutter?" Kakashi closed the book and turned to the black-harried Uchiha. "You were the one that wanted to train today. We don't usually train on Fridays, but I agreed because you said you had something you wanted to give me. I bet you didn't drag me out here all the way to give me this," he drawled, pointing lazily at the copy of Icha Icha Paradise he'd just won. Itachi buried his face in his arms as he felt a blush spread on his cheeks. Kakashi's eyes widened._

"_... oooh, I know what it is." Itachi froze. Had he given too much away? Did Kakashi suspect ... _

"_You're a pervet, too!" _

_If he hadn't been lying on the ground already, Itachi would have fallen face-first into the dirt. _

"_You baka ..." Kakashi looked over at Itachi with a grin. "Only when no one's looking!" Itachi sighed and put a hand to his temple. "That's right ... you're a baka." The silver haired man nodded his agreement and busied himself with his book again. They didn't speak until they got up to leave._

_Between them, neither could figure out if it was the silence, or the fact that they both knew Itachi was hiding something, which bothered them. They walked back through the town, ignoring the other villagers and walking in silence. Before they could begin to enjoy each other's presence, they found themselves at the door of Kakashi's apartment. The silver haired jounin turned around and smiled through his mask. "Wanna come inside?" Itachi frowned. "Why? I have to get home." Kakashi shrugged, his smile still bright. "Ok." He turned around and went inside, placing the Icha Icha Paradise on the table as the door was knocked on and he let Itachi in._

_The black-haired Uchiha choked at Kakashi's house. "You live here?" Kakashi nodded, sitting on a couch. There wasn't a speck of dust in sight. It was like a new house, save the few unwashed dishes at the sink, possibly from that very morning. Itachi shook his head and sat on the couch as Kakashi made some drinks. Itachi looked around at the pictures on the wall. There was one of his old team, with Obito and Rin. Itachi flinched and looked away from the image. There was another of him and Itachi, and a few more of Itachi and some with Sasuke and Naruto, and the jounin frowned. "Kakashi," he called, "you stalking me? Why are there so many pictures of me up on your wall?" Kakashi was walking over and tossed him a glass of warm, smooth drink instead of answering. Itachi rose an eyebrow at him. _

"_Sake?" _

_Kakashi rose the glass and grinned. "Guilty as charged." _

_Itachi frowned. "We're not eighteen yet, you know ..." Kakashi gave him a calculating look. "And how did you get me that new book, then, hmm?" Itachi suddenly busied himself with downing the sake, ignoring the grin that Kakashi had plastered on his face._

_After only a few glasses, both boys were grinning like fools and lying on the couch, heads on the other's shoulder. _

"_I hate sake," grumbled Itachi as he brought a fifth cup to his lips. Kakashi giggled, sounding like a robot on weed, and downed more sake, not cohesive enough to form words. Itachi frowned. "You sound like an idiot," he announced to the room, and brought another cup to his lips. _

_Kakashi caught the glass and swiped it, putting it on the table. "Stop." The Uchiha looked up blearily at the stoic man, and frowned. _

"_Kisama, you made me plaster myself! You're not half-drunk--and the purple hamsters in your toaster are demanding fair bugle rights ..." He hiccupped and Kakashi shrugged. _

"_I ... I tried. I can't ..." he said softly. Itachi looked up at him with glossy red eyes, face flushed, lips parted, and he froze. Itachi felt a silly smirk come across his face and he whispered the other boy's name as his hands came up towards his neck. "Kakashi ..." _

_The other boy shook as Itachi grabbed his shirt and pulled Kakashi down, and both boys rolled off the couch and onto the floor, one of them yelping in surprise, the other in pain as he was pinned by a heavier body. Itachi blinked up unsteadily into Kakashi's eyes. Kakashi's very close eyes. Kakashi's teeth were gritted, just inches away from Itachi's lips, and his elbows in the ground to prevent their collision. Itachi shifted and tried to push Kakashi off him, but the silver-haired jounin held him down. _

"_Lemme up," he mumbled, "lemme go ... " Kakashi shook his head grimly. _

"_Not a chance. Who knows what'll happen if you leave like this. You're drunk, Itachi ... you could do something rash. Your father'll think badly of me and he'll make a request to have you taken off the team." _

_Itachi looked up at Kakashi and then smiled. His face looked so young, so free of concern for the world or what the world thought of him that Kakashi's guard dropped and Itachi, eyes shifting back to a cold, unplastered emotion as he brought his head up, lips brushing against the parted lips hovered inches above his own. He froze--someone he could consider a best friend just stepped over the line. The scent of drink was strong on Itachi's lips and Kakashi refused to acknowledge the lips against his, his body aching to do otherwise. Itachi licked the lips he'd taken and then fell back, looking into Kakashi's eyes. To his surprise, they were shaking with the same emotion that he'd hidden for years. "Itachi ..." The boy nodded, bringing his hands to caress Kakashi's neck, not exactly helping the shuddering boy's resolve to do as little as wouldn't totally destroy their crumbling friendship. "Yes, Kakashi?" The jounin twitched, clearly having trouble holding back. "If you do anything else ... I don't know if I could stop myself ..."_

_Itachi smiled. "It's already too late to go back, Kakashi," he whispered as he brought their heads closer, "so let's go forwards instead of backwards." Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "You sound corny." Itachi shrugged as their lips met. _

"_So I'm corny," he muttered against the warm mouth that met his own and he lost the ability to form coherent sentences, Kakashi's mouth capturing his with something more than passion and less than pure lust and Itachi moaned, the first of many new sounds that echoed through Kakashi's house that day._

**(present)**

Sasuke was silent for a while. Kakashi smiled sadly at him. "I suppose you think I'm insane." Sasuke just stared. Kakashi knew that he was taking it as well as he could, but it was really immature of him not to even say anything. Finally, Sasuke choked out some words.

"So that's it? You got drunk and kissed my brother?" He felt his hands twitch, trying to wring them as if to get dirt off, though his palms were clean. Kakashi nodded. "We did more than kiss." Sasuke pulled a face. "Do I need to hear?" Kakashi looked at him with a straight face. "Only if your poor, virgin ears can handle it." The shock and embarrassment across Sasuke's face caused Kakashi to shake with suppressed laughter and the Uchiha slapped him over the head, flushing as he realized he'd set himself up.

"Fool," he muttered, then louder, "so you had sex with him. You were sixteen." Kakashi nodded, looking soberly at the ground. "Yeah ..." Sasuke turned to face his teacher with some amount of concern. "And he carved his name into your arm with a kunai. Didn't that make you wonder?"

Kakashi shook his head. "That was just how we got together--so to speak. He didn't do anything like that back then. You have to understand ...We were happy, Sasuke, happier than anything. I worked to keep the relation a secret, but when your father got wind of him seeing me, well ..." (A/N: writing Kakashi is really really hard ... T-T)

**(FlashBack)**

"_Stop!" _

_Itachi turned around to be tackled to the ground by the silver-haired jounin, panting as he hid their chakara from the other ANBU. Turning to face the boy, Kakashi scanned the look on Itachi's emotionless face. "Itachi! Sasuke was just found in your house--he said--he said that you murdered your parents and family! He says that you left him alive as a joke!" Itachi shoved his hands away, trying to get away. Kakashi wouldn't let him. "ITACHI! Tell me what happened!!!" _

_The black-haired boy turned around, Shiringan flaring, and growled. "I didn't do it. I didn't murder them." Kakashi felt the boy fade from his grasp and Itachi was lost for the moment. _

**(present (again))**

"That's not true ... I saw him, he murdered them!" Sasuke shouted, interrupting Kakashi's story once again, "He's a murderer! He slaughtered his own blood and left me alive because--"

"_Why_, Sasuke?" Kakashi tiredly met Sasuke's confused glare. "What do you mean?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Why would he leave his little brother alive out of all the Uchiha? If he was truly as evil or power-hungry as you think, why not just kill you and be the last survivor?"

Sasuke frowned. He'd thought about it before, but no reason had really fit. He'd never really thought thourghly about why Itachi had let him live. He hadn't needed a reason before. Itachi had been his brother, and then suddenly, he was his sworn rival, the ultimate obstacle.

But why?

His anger faded and he slumped back against the wall, glaring.

"I suppose you have the answer," he grumbled. Kakashi nodded. "I'm almost done."

**(FlashBack once again...)**

_Kakashi raced through the brush, a step ahead of the other jounin. He stopped and gave a signal for them to wait. A man to his left growled. "We don't have time to stop!" Kakashi spun on him with a glare. _

"_I'm still the commander of this cell! You'll wait right here--if there's even a slight possibility to bring in Itachi without death, I want to take it!" He spat and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The others were content to wait. _

_Really, Kakashi was hoping that they'd bought the story. He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. Itachi would never--_

_Something black caught his shoulder and before he could stop himself he had a kunai against it. The black-haired Uchiha smirked. "I see your defensive training paid off," he muttered as he drew his hand away to suck at the blood. Kakashi took the arm away from Itachi's mouth and covered it with his own, a fleeting kiss to silence whatever accusations that the black-haired boy might have suspected. A soft moan told him that Itachi was enjoying the moment, and it tore him inside to pull away first. The other boy took a breath and sat back, eyes dark and tired. _

"_I'm sorry," he said softly. _

_Kakashi was confused and then his eyes widened. "You mean ... you ..." _

_Itachi shook his head quickly. "No, I didn't do it! I swear ... I was apologizing because--I don't know when I'll see you again." _

_Kakashi looked at the ground. "Do you have to disappear? We could talk--"_

"_What good are words if the people that need to believe me have shut their ears to anything but what they think they saw with their own eyes? You know the Hokage wouldn't hear a word from me," said Itachi with a sad smile, "Sasuke would probably have them kill me if he's convinced them all ready." Kakashi shook his head. "But you're not guilty! You shouldn't banish yourself like this!" Itachi smiled sadly. "Look through my eyes, Kakashi," he whispered, "can you really see any other way?" _

"_Then let me come with you." Itachi shook his head. "No. I need you to stay and watch Sasuke." Kakashi's eyes widened. "No! I want to come with you! Itachi, please--" The black haired boy's eyes sparkled but denied him the pain that he would feel._

"_Kakashi, I love you." The silver-haired boy breathed in sharply as Itachi smiled at him, dark black eyes lightening in spite of his position and Itachi's lips passed over his cheek to his ear and he whispered softly into his ear. "But, I can't let you come with me. Too many people would be hurt." Kakashi frowned. "I don't care," he muttered, arms wrapping around the other boy's figure, "I only care about you." Itachi caught Kakashi in another embrace and then forced their eyes to meet._

"_Hey ... one day, I'll come back, and the blue of the sky will wipe away these lies. I'll see you then."_

_Kakashi flushed, in spite of how incredibly cheesy it was, and Itachi turned his arm over. "Here," he whispered, handing the silver-haired boy a kunai, "we'll make a promise--I'll come back if you wait for me." Kakashi nodded weakly, taking the kunai in his hands and then Itachi pulled back his own sleeve and smiled softly. With a few swift motions, the kanji for Kakashi's name was etched into his forearm. Kakashi did the same with his own arm, only the kanji was for Uchiha Itachi. The other boy took their arms and held them together and for a moment Kakashi experienced the power of a blood-bonded promise. _

"_By this blood, I swear I will return to you," he whispered. Kakashi felt him draw away and disappear._

* * *

.

"Ooh, Gaa-chan, look!!!"

They were on a mostly empty train that was touring Snow, and their next stop was in ten minutes. Of course, they'd needed passports, which Haku had somehow held onto from the exams, and had easily gotten on, leaving a bloody and very quiet train station behind in the Stone country. Currently, Itachi was sitting near the window opposite the one Naruto had his face pressed to. Gaara and Haku had been playing go until Naruto had invoked their curiosity and they gazed out the window to see snow-capped mountains. Gaara felt his mouth twitch faintly. "Snow," he whispered. Naruto beamed. "Yeah!" Itachi rubbed his temples, taking the offered rice ball from Haku and wondering how a sixteen-year-old boy could be so much at heart still a child.

"Keep **quiet**, Naru--" The blonde swooped down and grabbed something out of the Uchiha's hands.

"Hahaha, I got your rice ball!" Itachi's eye twitched. His rice ball was gone. HIS rice ball. Was. Gone.

"Naruto, you'll regret that!"

"I didn't think it was possible," muttered Gaara as he watched Itachi actually get up to physically chase Naruto around the empty train car, "but Itachi's gotten more insane since we introduced you to him." Haku blinked and smiled, picking up a black go piece and attacking one of Gaara's white stones. "Thanks--I think ..." Gaara nodded and made a quick move, ignoring the cries of pain that came from his left until an explosion almost disrupted his game. Using the sand to keep the stones where they were, Gaara looked up at the two with an irritated growl. Itachi and Naruto looked up, Naruto up-side-down against the wall and Itachi holding a kunai against his right ankle. Gaara's eye twitched.

"Urusai. We're trying to play a game." Naruto giggled and bounded over to watch the stones click against the board as Itachi turned back to the window, nibbling on the remains of his rice ball.

It was cold.

* * *

end chapter (sorry! more soon!)

* * *

.

- sorry! had to end it there. I'm sorry about the weird-ness of Itachi/Kaka above, but that's the best I can do … (T-T) The next part will concern Haku a bit ... - -- look! a mime! oh, and Sasuke will carry out his mission to help Neji while we wait for him to recover--I can't believe that he's blind, even if it's just temporary--whoops! I suppose you weren't supposed to know that ...

(About The Foxish:)

1- "Welcome back"

2- roughly "i don't like this (and he's talking about the language)"

Thankx for reading this far! I better get to work on chapter 9! You read so fast ... and this was such a silly chapter, we only got to do some things about Konoha and learn a little 'bout kakashi and itachi's past. (sigh.) oh well. More next time! I don't have a preview now, but I will have a chapter soon! ... and please don't kill the lazy author. (aka, me.)

(runs far away and hides under a rock)


	9. Vacation

**Chapter 9:Vacation **

Much ado about training missions! First, some ItachiOOC, he's really hard to write. As is Sasuke, but hey, that's why they're Uchihas. Then, something about death, and a little more about Naruto and Gaara. Some anger, some laughter, and a little crying, but it's all good, right? I must thank Crimson Nightmare again for reviewing--you give me such great reviews! I think you've reviewed almost every chapter if not all of them, and also ghostninja85. I love the both of ya.

boy, this story is getting hard to write. oh well. the chuunin exams were easy, because most of it wrote itself. I suppose this is where I'll really start telling my story ...

* * *

"Look! Snow!"

Naruto jumped into the brilliant pile of whiteness and Haku giggled as his head emerged with puffs of snow on his hair. "Hey! It's really cold!"

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Of course it is. It's snow."

Itachi shrugged and pulled the cloak around his shoulders. "Gaara, Naruto, Haku, we should find a place to stay for the week." Haku smiled brightly. "I can do that for you all. You have fun exploring the countryside while I find a place for us to stay at." Gaara had him wear the hairpin again and Haku would be signaled if they found reason to depart. The boy nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Itachi observed the two remaining boys out of the corner of his eye. "... we can look at the mountains," suggested the black-haired boy softly. Naruto and Gaara blinked at each other and then turned smiles to Itachi.

"That's neat, Itachi-chan," chirped Naruto as he glomped the taller boy. Itachi shoved the teenager off his shoulders as they took to traveling towards the mountains.

Within five minutes the mountains were no longer a hundred feet away but just a breath away and Naruto laughed as the snow welcomed them with a frosted smile, arms of wind enveloping them with the brilliance that sheeted the ground and trees and they shot through the snow with something like a relaxing feeling. The snow hit their bare faces and melted into water that ran down their collars and soaked their skin underneath. Itachi was worried for a moment but then used his chakara to dry some of the water on his skin and the coldness fled. Naruto followed his example and Gaara let the sand armor gather on him, another layer altogether, in more than a figurative sense. They climbed over the snow and suddenly Naruto jumped into the open space and scooped up a handful of snow. Before Itachi could wonder what was going on, he'd been hit in the face with a snowball.

At first, he wondered at the snow covering his face. Naruto was rolling in the whiteness that blanketed the mountain, laughter ringing out through the air as Gaara landed in the snow next to him with a smirk. The older Uchiha bent down, hand carefully cupping the snow to gather a precise amount in his hand. Naruto sat up and was smacked in the face by a round ball of snow that sent him sprawling back into the snow. Gaara's eyes widened and his head automatically moved to the side as a white ball of snow flew past. Itachi looked surprised at his actions but submitted to the childish games and scooped up more snow, launching three snowballs at the boys in the snow.

Naruto was ecstatic. Left and right he flew, dodging the snowballs, occasionally stopping to let one smack him in the head for realistic purposes. When he did, he was reprimanded with a slush ball to the back of the head.

Gaara was also enjoying the game. He'd managed to dodge most of the snowballs on his own, but when Naruto threw one at a blind spot, the sand covered it and suddenly Gaara had a wonderful epiphany. He let the sand swirl around and grab sand like extra hands. There was a small amount left over for a shield but it was more than enough. Naruto yelped as the sand launched several snow balls at him and pummeled him to the ground. Itachi dashed out of the first wave but was smacked in the face by one thrown by Gaara himself. The red head was greatly enjoying the game until Naruto grinned and three picture-perfect bunshin jumped out of his body and the four Narutos began to turn the tables. Gaara's sand could only launch snowballs if it wasn't being hit itself. With three new bodies to worry about, the sand slowly became less and less efficient. Finally, Gaara had it revert into two suna bunshin and the war raged on.

Itachi used his speed to avoid most of the snowballs and used several after-images to mislead the boys. What he didn't know was that he had never misled even one of the clones. The demons simply didn't want the trouble of Itachi thinking himself less powerful or in any way subordinate to their containers. Kyuubi growled as the blonde laughed and shot a snowball at the real Itachi, who ducked at the last possible moment to avoid both his and Gaara's snowball.

/**_Hey, brat,_**/ it barked suddenly, /**_put a kunai in the next one._**/

Naruto blinked and stopped gathering snow to his hands. /_W-why?/_

The Kyuubi shifted lazily in its cage. **_/Training. Didn't that weakling man at that cave mention something about training?/_** Naruto nodded, and then made a quick thought to Gaara. _/Oi! Watch out!/_ Gaara looked up and moved his head to the left and the snowball exploded in a puff of snow, revealing the kunai embedded in the whiteness. Gaara's eyes widened and then narrowed in feral glee._ 'If that's what you want ...' _

Itachi stopped, ducking the snowball that whizzed over his head with suspicion. '_That was deliberately thrown wide'_, he thought, watching it hit behind him, followed by a '**thok**!'. His eyes widened as he spotted the kunai embedded in the wood and grimaced. '_This just got dangerous_,' he thought to himself, '_very dangerous_.' Jumping into the open, he shot seven snowballs into the air and two blurs shot out to meet them with kuani in hand to deflect every snowball aimed at them. Now that they were in the open, the war began.

The Naruto clones launched a wave of shuriken and kunai in snowballs. Itachi and Gaara dashed back and forth in short steps to avoid them, retaliating with a few snowballs. Naruto yelped as one caught his shoulder but with a feral grin, red chakara wrapped itself around it and the skin and muscle spat out the kunai, sewing itself together furiously as the blonde scooped up some more snow and launched it at the two others. Gaara growled and was caught in the face by a ball of snow, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Itachi frowned. '_When did he substitute himself in for a bunshin?'_ He hadn't seen it. Mockingly, Yuki's words came back to him.

_'I want you to know the meaning of being the best.'_

"Naruto, Gaara--Stop!"

The two boys froze, covered from head to knee in show, turning to blink at the older boy. "Hm?"

Itachi shrugged off his cloak. "I want you two to show me a move I've never seen before."

Naruto took a moment to comprehend the idea, then broke out in happy laughter as he realized that he would be teaching Itachi something. The Kyuubi growled in his stomach and mind.

**_/There are no safe techniques we can teach,/_** if growled to its human container. Naruto pouted.

_/But why not? We could teach him the Wall of Fire or at least the Floating, right?/_

The fox shook its mane, growling softly. **_/Nope. Not even those. Way too dangerous. And why now is he interested in knowing what we've taught you?/_**

Shukaku was in agreement.**_ 'It's very sudden. Smells like trickery to me.'_** Gaara frowned and decided to break the silence that had settled.

"Why?" Itachi looked up. "Hm?"

"Why do you want to know if we know anything all of a sudden?" Itachi thought it over immediately in his head, reminding himself that Naruto and Gaara didn't really know anything about deceit or lies and he shrugged. "For kicks. Every new technique that you teach me, I'll ... I guess I'll play with you for half an hour." Naruto's eyes sparkled. "Playing? Not just training?" Itachi's eye twitched. He knew he was signing a contract with the death of his pride. "Yes. Playing. You will show me one technique, and I'll use the Shiringan to copy it." Naruto's eyes lit up and he shouted in happiness, despite Kyuubi and Shukaku's suspicion.

_'_**_Why all of a sudden?' _**

**_/He knows that we can communicate, so he'll know we're only letting him see the weakest of the jutsus .../ _**

_'Whatever. If Naruto wants to do it, I'll do it too.' _

**_'You'll regret showing him even one.' _**

_/Which one should we show off first.../_

Itachi activated his shiringan eyes as Naruto's power suddenly jumped, the bright blue orbs filling with a purple haze that shifted back and forth between red and blue and the blonde's hands formed only five seals before he disappeared. Itachi moved his hands as he copied Naruto's movements, but nothing happened. Gaara, watching silently from the side, shook his head. Itachi wasn't using any chakara, and without chakara, he was giving the enemy the key to one of their jutsus. "Use chakara," he muttered after Itachi frowned at his nonexistent results. The shiringan-user snorted. "I will," he grunted, reforming the seals again and this time, putting chakara into it.

Suddenly, he was flying though darkness, a long, winding tunnel leading to no where and just as suddenly, he was spat out its end, landing on his rump in cold grass. Stunned, he sat there for a while, looking around, and wondering what had happened. Naruto appeared next to him, smiling.

"Don't worry--it just takes a few practices to get the aim down right, but this is somethin' we call the hat trick."

Gaara appeared next to him, legs crossed and general posture relaxed. "We made it up a few years ago in Infinity Fortress. All our attacks work there better 'cauz that's where they originated. Hat Trick involves tearing a hole in the fabric of reality. From there, you're sucked in, and then you kinda get tossed around, but since you go so fast, it doesn't register with reality."

"What he means is that there's no time lapse," elaborated Naruto. "Then, you choose your exit with this seal," he said, flipping his hands a few times loosely, "and end up where you want to. It's silent, instant, without a millisecond of delay. Quicker than any kind of communication, instant escape, teleportation maxed out. We memorized the seals, so now we just use chakara and teleport. Once you have the seals and their effects memorized, you can go anywhere you want in the blink of an eye." And Itachi blinked, and Naruto and Gaara disappeared, though he felt their chakara flare just a few yards away to let him know where they'd gone. Itachi used his shiringan and bought back the seal that Gaara had made seconds before, and he was sucked back into the vortex between time and reality. This time, he flipped his hands and focused on Naruto and Gaara, their location, and then blinked as he appeared next to them. Naruto clapped. "All right! Play time!" Itachi stifled a groan and instead shook off his cloak, sitting in the snow and smiling in defeat. He had the ability to teleport from where he wanted, able to instantly be wherever he needed, though it required a hefty bit of chakara to do so. Then, Naruto's eyes slipped from blue to purple to red, and the Kyuubi chuckled.

"**You'll need the time to regather your strength**," it growled, Itachi's eyes widening at the deep voice, "**Spending so much chakara on jutsu after jutsu, you'd collapse before you could retain five**." Itachi felt his chest rise and fall as the red slunk away and was replaced with an endless bright, a blue that smiled and laughed at him from two gleaming orbs as he leaned over in the snow.

"Fine. Let's play a game."

* * *

Haku made his way towards the small area around which three figures were huddled. One of them wore a scowl, another an exasperated frown, and the third was expressionless as he laid down his last card. "I win," he said softly and Naruto threw up his hands. "Argh! That's five games in a row! Gaa-chan's too good at Uno, let's play something else." Haku giggled as he came up behind them and sat down next to Itachi, peeking at his cards as Naruto scooted over to the winner. Itachi's eye twitched. Haku giggled.

"What a terrible hand, Itachi-kun," he whispered, "you have horrible card-karma, you know?" Itachi threw the handful at the two demons across from them and turned to look at Haku's head. "Where did you go?" Haku shivered and pulled his cloak around him tighter, though for some reason, no warmth came from it. He ignored it and told Itachi of the small, warm, secluded cave that they might stay in if not the hotel he'd made registrations at. Gaara turned to the black-haired boy.

"You made hotel reservations? Where?" Haku stood up and they disappeared.

They reappeared in front of a large, white, multi-leveled building called 'The Crane.' Curiously, Naruto kicked the side of the building and it shook violently but stood firm. Gaara nodded. "We can stay here." The two walked inside without further inspection on their part and Haku followed. Itachi frowned and tapped the wall. It felt very solid. He gave it a good whack, but nothing happened. Staring at Naruto's back as he walked over the threshold, he wondered if the boy had put any chakara into the kick, and how he'd allowed them to leave him so far behind.

Inside the hotel, Haku led Naruto and Gaara past the counter and up to their room. It was spacey, with two beds and a futon. Itachi made his way through the corridor when there was a shout from the room. He jumped and then slowly opened the door, eyes widening as he met the scene inside.

Naruto, Gaara and Haku had their hands together, faces concentrated, and Itachi fell over as Naruto grinned, holding up his fist and proclaiming mastery over the best bed in a dominating rock-beats-scissors game of jan-ken-pow. (A/N: --; gomen. a littly ooc, but had to do.)

"Oh, dear," said Haku as he watched Gaara glare at Itachi, who was eyeing the other bed, "it appears we don't have enough beds." Itachi shook his head and got up. "I'll sleep on the floor." Naruto frowned. "No, Haku-chan, you can have the bed and Itachi-chan can have the futon."

Gaara looked over at him with somewhat of a lost expression. "Where am _I_ sleeping?"

Naruto toed off his shoes and threw off his cloak, which landed silently against the wall along with his goggles as he slid under the covers, fluffing the pillow next to him, smiling widely. Gaara blinked, looked back and forth between the bed and Naruto's face, and slowly blinked, making the connection. Haku slid into his bed, looking very drowsy. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked over at Haku with a brilliant smile. "Yeah?" Haku looked out the window.

"... does it seem very cold to you?"

Naruto nodded, shivering, and pulled back under the covers. "Yeah. It's freezing ... but that's why we have these really thick covers!" Itachi slid into the covers of his futon, stopping only once at the faint scent of an unfamiliar herb before shutting his eyes to fall asleep.

Gaara took off his gourd and lay it carefully next to Naruto's cloak along with his own, and then took off his shoes and sliding under the covers next to Naruto. The blonde shuddered at the wave of cold that Gaara let in, and pouted at the other boy. The red head looked at his frowning friend, wondering what he'd done to deserve such a look, when Naruto took Gaara's arms and pulled them around his shoulders. Gaara opened his mouth to ask what the point was when Naruto put his head on Gaara's shoulder and a tingling sensation shot through his stomach. The ability to protest or even speak was lost to him as Naruto spooned into the crook of his neck, nuzzling deeper into the warmth Gaara offered, and the night enveloped the room.

* * *

Naruto woke first. It was the soft whimpering to his left, from the other bed. His eyes shot open and he slid out of bed silently, knowing full well that Gaara would follow him, and made his way over to where Haku slept. His nose caught the overwhelming scent of a sickening herb, and he threw his hands to his nose, hissing and jumping back. Haku thrashed in his sleep, groaning and sweating badly.

Gaara's eyes widened and he threw the covers off of Haku's upper half and met the ghastly smell that had sent Naruto reeling away: poison.

Itachi shot out of bed. He knew something wasn't right. He had known it last night when he smelled the faint scent of poison on Haku, but he'd assumed the boy carried the herbs around like medical nins did. He'd been wrong.

Furiously, Itachi took out a vial and told Naruto to have Haku swallow it. The blonde fumbled to hold the bottle but Haku wouldn't take any medicine. His pale face looked even more white now, but he still smiled up at them. "I-I'm fine," he whispered, "I don't need ... any medicines."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Don't be a fool. You've been poisoned--you need an antidote." Naruto nodded, uncorking a bottle and looking at Haku with some amount of fear and dread. "Haku-chan, just take it to be safe--please?"

"I'm ... fine."

Naruto shook his head, looking at the slightly older boy with shock and disbelief. "Haku-ch-chan ... how did you get poisoned?" Haku shuddered and Itachi grabbed his shoulders, hauling him towards his own chest and wrapping his arms around the boy. The extra warmth gave Haku the strength to speak clearly and slowly instead of just whispering.

"I don't know ... I think it must have been something I inhaled ..." a smile spread across his face and he tugged on Naruto's sleeve. "Hey," he whispered, smiling brightly for one so ill, "don't be sad. I'm ... not dead yet. We still ... have a week to finish playing. I'll just ... sleep a while ..."

Naruto nodded, taking the hand and clasping it with both of his own. Gaara sat at Itachi's other side, holding his hand to Haku's cheek. The pale flesh was now pasty white, and growing colder by the second. Gaara's eyes widened. Itachi looked at Naruto and his grip tightened around the boy's cooling body. Haku looked up into Naruto's eyes and smiled in spite of the terror they found there.

"Naruto. Thanks for caring. I'll always remember you, and Gaara-kun, and Itachi-ku ..." his tongue failed him and he fell back against Itachi's chest with a sigh, the life draining from him in that single breath.

Just like that, Haku slipped away.

(this would be a wonderful place to leave you, but you'd kill me. Hence, the rest of the chapter ...)

Naruto stared at his lifeless body. "How ..." His fingers curled and bit into his palms, though the bleeding ceased almost before it started as the Kyuubi's chakara patched the pierced flesh almost instantly. "H-Haku-ch-chan ..." He sat back on the bed and Gaara was suddenly behind him, arms pulling Naruto away from the lifeless boy as tears leaked down his disbelieving face. _/No. No. No. NO. NO. NO! NO!!!!!/ _Gaara put his arms around the sobbing boy and Naruto jerked, then tackled Gaara off the bed, falling against the floor, his head in Gaara's chest and Gaara's arms around his shoulders.

"WHY?!"

Itachi put Haku back in his bed, frowning and snapping his head around to glare at the cloak next to Haku's bed. The one Ryusho had given him.

Inside, Naruto was tearing himself apart. His friend was gone! He'd never be able to play or laugh with Haku again. He'd never see his smiling face, that pale, white face that he'd at first mistaken for a girl's. He'd never have the boy of snow to talk to, to listen to, there were so many things that they had still to do ... that road was destroyed.

"Ryusho, you bastard ..."

Itachi had picked up the cloak and was furiously examining the fabric. "Haku didn't die on accident," he growled, "it was this." He picked up the cloak and threw it across the room at Naruto and Gaara. The red head caught it and tugged at the cloth, eyes widening. "It's light." Itachi nodded. "Too light. Ryusho knew we were headed into the mountains. There's more." Gaara sniffed it and hissed, kicking it away and glaring wildly at the black cloak.

"Poison--!!!"

Itachi nodded, also glaring at the fabric. "Woven into the cloak; Haku was inhaling it since that bastard handed it to him in the hallway." Naruto blinked, some of his tears falling off his cheeks and splattering against the floor. Itachi snapped his head toward the blonde as a rumbling sound shook the hotel. Naruto's hair was standing on end, and his eyes were wide, slowly the blue crumbled and gave way to an ocean of red, blood-stained orbs sending their piercing gaze upon the cloak that had been the death of a close friend.

"Haku-chan ..." The name fell roughly from Naruto's lips along with several drops of blood as his canines shot down, cutting his lip in the process. Gaara's eyes widened and he called the sand to restrain Naruto as the blonde howled, and a furious power filled him, red exploding from his back in a wild display of power. Gaara remembered this from when they'd met Haku--only now Naruto was evoking the power to avenge the boy, instead of to subdue him. Itachi activated his Shiringan and prepared himself for a battle to keep Naruto from going back to the Akatsuki and destroying them, or at least Ryusho. With a grunt, he flung himself out the window as Naruto tore out of Gaara's sand and flung himself at the open sky. Haku's motionless body lay peacefully on the bed, eyes shut forever in the pale moonlight.

The howl that tore through the silence woke every fox within a mile.

* * *

It was a crisp, clear day. The breeze was refreshing and the sun was young in the sky as its dim rays flitted over his face. A hand rose and shaded dark, black eyes as the smiling teenager faced the rising sun. The dew was still fresh on the grass and there probably wasn't a cloud in the sky. The day was perfect.

"**NEJI**! What the **hell** are you doing on the roof?!?!!"

_'Shit.'_

The Hyuuga relaxed his muscles, listening for the footsteps that were to come. '_There_--' Tak-Tak-Tak, skidd! There was mild panting and Neji kneeled down before vaulting into the sky. The boy behind him cursed and disappeared. The Hyuuga flew through the air, absolutely no idea where he was going before something warm wrapped around his shoulders and under his knees and suddenly he was falling, stopping abruptly as Sasuke landed with a grunt, the Hyuuga branch member in his arms.

Neji frowned and crossed his arms. "You suck."

Sasuke panted and kicked the door open to his room, not dignifying the insane boy with an answer. Ever since Neji had realized that Sasuke was responsible for his life, he had the pleasure of flying every morning, or really, falling through the air without worrying about landing. Since the Hyuuga family had forbidden him to use his Byakugan for anything but battle, Sasuke had to make sure he didn't 'fall'. His world dropped about three feet to the futon that Sasuke slept on, and Neji chuckled as a pillow smacked him in the face.

"I'm sorry," he said through snorts of laughter. Sasuke made a face. "Don't be--that's the seventeenth time this month you made me get up at dawn. Next time, you can spear yourself on a light post and I won't be responsible for the Hyuuga Shis-ka-bob. This injury went straight to your brain." Neji just grinned at him and then grabbed the other boy's arm, pulling him down to the floor.

Darkness wasn't the most enjoyable thing. In fact, Neji was scared of it. Sasuke knew he'd never say it, however his actions betrayed it. Being blind had severely altered Neji's care for company; what time he usually spent alone, training or other wise, was spent mainly with Sasuke and whoever he associated himself with. Neji's social life had sky-rocketed him to new heights, and although the masses of girls who followed Sasuke around didn't completely mob him, they admired him from a distance. It had made Neji nervous, so Sasuke spent more time familiarizing Neji with the rooftops instead of the streets. However odd it seemed, Neji seemed to take to the rooftops quicker than with anything else. Before his first week of new sightlessness had passed, he had mastered moving around on the rooftops with a minimal amount of assistance from Sasuke.

But more than exploring the outside world, Neji had more explored his relationship with Sasuke. He obviously sacrificed a large amount of his time to help Neji around, choosing to stay with the blind Hyuuga rather than train himself or go on missions with his female teammates, who were by no means unable to do them on their own. He had spent much of his childhood training with Sasuke, though the black-haired boy's strength always fluxuated according to Neji's--when Neji was strong, Sasuke would seem explosive and eager to challenge, but when he was ill or weak in some way, Sasuke was interested in other things besides sparring. They had known each other for almost their entire lives, been through countless experiences and enjoyable times--and had gone through just as many hardships. The most recent had been the exams, and soon, the blindness would also be behind them. Neji shut his sightless eyes and laid his head back. _'That's right. This is temporary. Soon, I'll be able to see again, and I'll be back to the way I was ...'_ he curled up into a ball on the bed, despite it being a beautiful day (and not even his own bed) he didn't feel like seeing the outside world at the moment.

"Oi," muttered Sasuke from above him a few minutes later, "the world doesn't revolve around you. I know you know this isn't your room, so get off my bed. I want to make it before we go to meet up with Gai and the rest of the team."

Since Kakashi had last spoken to him about Itachi, his condition had worsened and he'd been bedridden ever since. Now team seven took missions from Gai, and sometimes helped them along their group assignments. Tsunade had made this all possible, and Sasuke was slightly grateful to her for that, but he wouldn't even speak about her other than that. The first time he'd heard there was a price on Naruto's head, he'd begun to hate her. Neji was also angry, but he did respect her ability to govern the country.

"_Hey_!"

A word shattered his world and he flinched upon realizing that he'd been going off again.

Sasuke was slightly worried about Neji--ever since the exams, he'd been spacing out like this, and it could drag on for hours, usually ending in depression and curling up into a ball on a bed or in a corner. It was painful to watch, and no longer being able to read his eyes, Sasuke had to rely on only body language from the other boy; Neji was very good at controlling that.

"You keep zoning out, Neji. It's not like you."

Neji nodded and felt another weight join him on the bed. "Yeah ..."

Sasuke shook his head. "Keep it up, and you'll end up like Iruka."

Neji's mood brightened a touch to get away from the subject of himself. "How is Iruka-sensei? They let him out of the hospital after the exams. He was going back to teaching, last I heard from you. Is he was having more problems with spacing out in classes?" Sasuke nodded.

"Even the kids he teaches are worried. I talked to some of Konohamaru's younger friends and they said the last time their teacher spaced off, it was for almost a full half-hour. I'm worried about him." Neji smiled. "I know. What about Kakashi-sensei? When do they expect him back?"

Sasuke leaned back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "The doctors say we can expect him back in a month or so, but knowing that fool, he'll try and get out of it sooner. He's still--"

Neji sighed as Sasuke cut himself off. He refused to even speak of Kakashi, despite Neji's repeated efforts to coax out of him what was so important. "The doctors say he's getting better," he said finally, "that's all." Neji nodded. He would have to be content with what was already common knowledge between the both of them.

For a moment, there was nothing but the silence between them.

Neji knew that Sasuke didn't want to talk about Kakashi and his brother, and Sasuke knew that Neji wanted him to talk about it. The black-haired Uchiha shut his eyes and fell back against the bed, his body bouncing on the bed. Neji jumped a little and smiled. "Sasuke ..." He prodded the boy next to him and was astounded to find that Sasuke had fallen asleep.

_'I suppose he would be tired,'_ thought Neji after a moment, _'considering he's been getting up at dawn to help me 'fly'.'_

He chuckled and then laid down himself, shutting his sightless eyes and opening a fist to reveal sensitive fingertips. The pale fingers hovered over Sasuke's head, just a hair away from the skin. In his sleep, Sasuke twitched and Neji drew his hand back with a smile. Deciding to join Sasuke in catching up on the extra sleep, he shut his eyes, his face the perfect calm as dreams took his mind elsewhere.

That was how Hiashi found them, two hours later--dead asleep. He made a slight cough and both boys jumped, their reflexes acting mechanically and the Hyuuga member irritated caught the kunai that were flung at him. Sasuke and Neji nearly jumped out of their skin when they realized whom they'd attacked. "H-Hyuuga-sama!" Sasuke bowed and hoped that Hiashi wouldn't kick him out of the house. Neji bowed as well, hoping his father didn't take offence at their reactions. Hiashi seemed to understand, for after a moment of glaring, his gaze softened. However, he said, they had missed breakfast, so they would have to go out to eat. Neji thanked his father for his kindness and the two fled the room as Hiashi's glare accompanied them out the door.

When they arrived at the bridge, Sakura and Tenten thrust fingers at them, shouting, "YOU'RE LATE!!!!!" Sasuke sweat dropped and Neji covered hi s ears--'_losing one's sight really _**_does_**_ magnify the other senses'_, he thought somewhat painfully, holding his ringing head. Gai laughed heartily as Lee looked up from his push ups, jokingly saying that Sasuke was starting to remind him of Kakashi. Sakura and Tenten agreed with him. "Sasuke-kun, you have been rather late to these past few missions," said Tenten as they started walking towards the gates of the village. Sasuke shot a glare at a certain white-eyed Hyuuga, who was staring innocently at the ground, and didn't reply. Sakura sighed. "Well, just don't turn into a pervert, Sasuke-kun. That's the only other quality besides lateness that Master Kakashi that I hope you don't surpass ..."

Sasuke blinked and then shook his head, missing the flash of horror that spread across Neji's face at the idea.

As they reached the gates, two ANBU stopped them to check their papers. Gai explained their mission and the ANBU told them they could pass. The seven turned to leave when another ANBU appeared next to the first two with a swirl of leaves. He whispered to the other two ANBU guards and then turned to Gai.

"Gai, Hokage-sama is requesting two of your gennin--Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hinata."

All eyes turned to the two and Sasuke slid the confused girl a similarly confounded look before turning to the ANBU. "And what does Hokage-sama want with us?" asked Sasuke with as much respect he could, though some anger bit through his tone. The ANBU didn't look impressed.

"Gennin don't have the authority to know," he said, looking around at the group, "but since you two are involved, your friends will want to know. I'll let you know once, but no more times after this, got it?" Sakura, Neji, Tenten and Lee nodded, offended at his comment but still curious to find out why the new Hokage wanted to see Sasuke and Hinata so soon.

"They are going to be questioned on the whereabouts of two dangerous criminals. Someone informed Hokage-sama that these two were the last two to come in contact before one of them left the leaf." An image of blonde hair and a smile flashed in Hinata's mind. The smile of a five-year old that matched the smile of a sixteen-year old blonde, one who had killed the Hokage of her village. The two clicked, and Hinata blushed and spoke before the ANBU or Sasuke could stop her.

"Could you mean Naruto-kun?"

Tenten and Sakura's eyes widened before they gasped. "Naruto? You mean that he was part of Konoha before the chuunin exams?" The ANBU shot Hinata a glare and looked at Gai. The jounin looked slightly embarrassed beneath the masked man's gaze and the ANBU shook his head.

"I can't have you all telling everyone, all right? This is top-secret information, and now I need all of you to come with me. Tsunade-sama's going to kill me ..." he grumbled and then rose his voice.

"All of you, follow me to Hokage Tower."

The two ANBU who had been at the gate turned around at a hand signal from the other man and, without much of a choice, Gai and the six gennin were led away to Hokage Tower.

* * *

The Crane was a fairly sturdy building, Naruto had proven that earlier. Now, it sported a scar on the side of the building where Naruto's fist had torn down it. The building was intact other than that, and when the manager rushed up to their room, he found only a silent body and a note to bury him somewhere in serene Snow Country. The man's surprise rose more as he felt the huge chakara from outside, and decided that taking the boy away now would be the best thing to do.

Itachi looked across the clearing at Gaara, who was standing between him and Naruto. "Is he going to be all right?" Itachi looked at the clearing, slightly annoyed at the rustling in almost every bush. "I don't know." Suddenly, he flung a kunai at a bush, and to his surprise, an animal's head shot out, the metal clanging against its fangs as it bit the knife out of the air. Slowly, his surprise doubled as the numerous foxes came out of every possible hiding place; they hopped down from trees, appeared from underground burrows, slunk out of the shadows, slipped up out of rivers ... soon, there were almost a hundred foxes, and more kept coming.

Naruto looked around blankly, blood-red eyes searching for a person that was no longer there. A small, black-brown fox to Naruto's left made a small whine, scooting closer to Naruto's flaming chakara, passing through the wave of raw red energy and stopped before his body. The boy looked down, staring in wonder at the little fox who didn't seem to be afraid of him. Startled, he realized that he had understood the whine.

You hurt,> it whined again, we help.> The other foxes sensed that Naruto could understand them, and suddenly pressed to come closer.

We can help>

We help>

Let us help you>

We make ye feel better>

Feel better!>

All the voices came to Naruto's ears at once, and with his heightened senses, he could hear the voice of every fox within miles. Every voice was calling out to him. Every voice promised him they could help. Naruto's face, streaked with tears, twitched a little before he fell to his knees, picking up the first black-brown fox. It licked his nose and as he stared into its eyes, he felt something inside him, a new kind of healing power, explode.

We help>

Gaara watched warily as the foxes crowed around Naruto and the one in his hands stared him straight in the eye. What were they doing? Itachi wondered the same thing as Naruto's eyes silently bled tears. The black-haired boy watched warily as the chakara around Naruto began to burn away, like great flames being put out by the wind.

Finally, the great flare of Naruto's power was reduced to his own chakara, and that, too, subsided as the foxes got closer, some of them walking up to him and nuzzling his body comfortingly. The one kit in his arms was still repeating, We help> and Naruto seemed unable to tear his eyes from the fox until he nodded and spoke softly to the fox, hugging it to his chest for a moment. The little thing squirmed and leapt out of the embrace over his shoulder, and bounded playfully into the wood, its job finished. The other foxes slowly nudged Naruto forwards and Gaara looked up as some of the larger foxes came over to him, looking him in the eye before getting behind him and giving him gentle pushes forward. Finally, Gaara and Naruto were a foot away from each other and the foxes, every one of them that had arrived at the first call Naruto had made began to leave. Itachi was amazed at the number of foxes who disappeared without his noticing, but was more concerned for Naruto as Gaara examined him for wounds. Was the Kyuubi going to come out? He shook his head, realizing that he shouldn't have been worried so much for the Kyuubi as he should have been concerned for Naruto. "Naruto!" Gaara pushed the blonde's hair back out of his eyes and Naruto looked up at Gaara with a frown.

"Haku-chan ... is dead. He's dead."

Gaara nodded. "I'm sorry," he said slowly, "but there's nothing we can do." Naruto almost said something, then turned his head to Itachi. "I-I'm ok ... I'm ok now." He sniffed a bit, and then Gaara knowingly took his shoulders and wrapped his arms around them. Naruto slid his own around Gaara's waist, eyes shut and tears coming to a stop. A new idea formed in his mind.

"I wanna make them sorry."

Suddenly, a smile spread across his face, Itachi wincing at the bloodlust that bubbled up in Naruto's gaze. "I wanna make them sorry that they hurt Haku-chan. Gaara-chan, Itachi-chan, we need to make the bad people gone."

Gaara nodded, totally agreeing with Naruto's logic. Those men had killed Haku ... so why not return the favor?

Itachi's eyes widened. They couldn't try to take on the Akatsuki. Not now--even with the power of demons, they were still only children. Yuki and Soujirou had been the first, and they were old for their looks, not to mention powerful. "Naruto, Gaara," he called, teleporting over to them, "you can't--" Gaara's sand immediately attached itself to his neck and he froze. Gaara's wide jade eyes questioned his words. Itachi choked for just a second. "Y-you can't k-kill them yet--not ... powerful--"

The sand squeezed tighter. "So you think we can't?"

Itachi shook his head violently. "I want to help!"

The sand dropped him. Gaara looked from Naruto to Itachi and then tightened his grip on the blonde. "I won't let them hurt Naruto." Naruto nodded, his arms tightening around Gaara's waist. "No one hurts my Gaa-chan or Itachi-nii-chan." The older boy looked somewhat perplexed at the nickname, and then shrugged it off.

"Listen--if you want to destroy the Akatsuki, you have to get stronger. You two have to train hard. Yuki thinks we're on a training mission, and he'll want reports on my progress." Gaara frowned and Itachi continued. "I won't send him anything, and that'll make us look suspicious. I could send him a bluff, but then he'd know. I could send him the truth, but that would be giving him my strengths. We can't have that either." Naruto nodded, "ok."

They looked at each other and Itachi said softly, "I swear to you, we will avenge Haku's death." The moon light was hidden just a moment by a cloud. For a second, Naruto's eyes glowed deep red, and Gaara's flashed yellow, and the pact was sealed.

When the light came again, it fell upon an empty clearing.

* * *

"All right, you can go through, now." Sasuke gave the ANBU ahead of him a glare before nodding and walking through the doors. They shut behind him and he walked into the dark room, taking the seat to his almost immediate left. The light in the room brightened as the woman with long, blonde hair behind the Third's desk flipped on the light switch. She looked around at the group as they faced her for the first time in her office. Standing, she brushed off her shirt and sighed.

"As you know, I'm Tsunade, and also the fifth Hokage." She stopped for a moment and then put her hands on her hips, speaking to the ANBU at the doors. "You lot can go now--I only need guards at the doors." They nodded, disappearing from the room in poofs. She nodded and then looked around. "I suppose you're all wondering why you're here--well, it doesn't matter if you know or not, I'm going to tell you again anyway--you're here for interrogation. My sources inform me that some of you have information about the shinobi who, over two months ago during the chuunin exams, exterminated the last Hokage."

Before her sat Sasuke, Hinata, Kakashi, Iruka, and Tenmari.

The girl on the end fidgeted in her seat. She'd stayed in Konoha after the murder because her own village denied her return--it seemed in their absence, her father had recruited more powerful shinobi to replace his children, and he'd given the title of 'heir' to a new group of children. She couldn't take Kankuro back to that place, so they'd stayed in Konoha these two months. Her brother wasn't available at the moment, and so she had been called up to the Hokage's office in his place. She'd been told that they wanted information on Gaara, which she didn't possess much of, but she'd come anyway, in hopes that the Hokage had some idea where her little brother was.

"I was going to ask you questions separately, but that sounded like too much trouble--" Sasuke thought she sounded like Shikamaru already--complaining was his thing. "--so I'm going to ask you all questions here. I'm recording this entire thing," she said, pointedly narrowing her eyes in a challenge for them to guess where the recorder was, "for posterity. I want you to be as honest as possible. I'll know if you lied later, but for now, please be as honest with me as possible. Now then, let's get started."

Tsunade smiled sweetly before asking to them all, "tell me, one by one, who knew Gaara, who knew Itachi, and who knew Naruto." They turned to the person to the furthest left, which was Sasuke. The black-haired boy jumped at the sudden attention but then answered coolly, "I knew Naruto and Itachi. I only spoke with Gaara for a brief time." Hinata blushed, nodding; she was next. "I-I knew N-Naruto-kun since our childhood, b-but I did s-see him one d-day before now with Gaara-kun." Tsunade nodded and moved her gaze to Kakashi. "I knew all three of them. Mostly Itachi and Naruto, but I did associate with Gaara before this on several separate accounts." Iruka sighed. "I only really knew Naruto--I didn't spend much time with Gaara; only briefly, like everyone else." Tsunade made a noise of frustration. "We don't have anyone who knows anything about Gaara?"

"I do," said Tenmari, "you just didn't get to me yet." Tsunade blinked a few times before laughing and rubbing the back of her neck, feeling sort of like a fool. "Ok! Sorry, Tenmari-san!" Tenmari nodded, looking kind of pink. There was a moment when Tsunade composed herself and then the Hokage looked at them all thoughtfully.

"Well, so far, all I know is that most of you knew Naruto, because he used to be part of this village. We'll start small--what was your idea of him?" They went the other way this time, starting with Tenmari. "I just saw him a few minutes. I was mostly talking to this girl with purple hair and white eyes ... I think she was you, Hinata-san. But I did see Gaara talking to Naruto a lot, and then our sensei--er, my former sensei, Baki--came in and took me and Kankuro out to get hotel reservations. Naruto ran out and Gaara followed him, and that was the last I saw of him 'till a few months ago."

She looked at the corner of Tsunade's table with a small smile. "Gaara didn't seem like the kind of person who would stand anyone silly like Naruto, but I guess some things can change." Tsunade nodded and Iruka spoke.

"I taught Naruto, and he was over at my house many times. We were really close, almost as close as family. I considered him my little brother, and we did lots of things together with Kakashi, Sasuke, and sometimes Itachi, when the two jounin were _available_." Kakashi gave him an apologetic shrug as the chuunin slid him a look, and returned to talking. "The last time I saw Naruto, he was with a little boy about the same age, I think, and it could have been Gaara--he had red hair and dark black circles around his eyes. I remember Naruto being happiest when you paid him attention," said Iruka with a soft smile, "he was always longing for someone to look at him, even if it was in anger. No one could stay angry at him--it was just ... something in his eyes that made you think about what he'd done, and then you realized that he had got you, and it would go away, and the reason to shout at him would really just trickle away ..." Iruka blinked and then blushed when he realized that the others were staring at him oddly. He rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. "Well, that, and Naruto was a great trouble maker, but only for attention. Other than that, he was mostly occupied by playing games with Sasuke and a few others. I think Hinata-kun, perhaps Ino-san and Sakura-san, and Neji-kun. There were a few others, I think, and they are on Asuma and Gai's teams now." Tsunade nodded. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei." She turned on the silver-haired jounin next. "Kakashi-san?"

"I only saw Naruto when I visited Iruka-kun," said Kakashi, "other than that, Uchiha Itachi was on my ANBU team. We knew each other for long as I can remember." He didn't say any more about Itachi, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I did encounter Gaara and Naruto multiple times during my ANBU years, however. Once at the Hokage's office and then again after the Uchiha massacre." Here Kakashi stopped totally, turning his lazy eye on Hinata, who was next to speak.

"I-I knew N-Naruto-kun," she stuttered, "and h-he would never kill anyone unless s-something m-made him. N-Not the Naruto-kun I kn-knew ..." Tsunade looked kindly across the desk. "Yes, Hinata-chan, but while that might be true, something might have changed the Naruto-kun you used to know." Hinata nodded, looking at her lap.

"I used to know Uchiha Itachi," said Sasuke to his feet, "he was my older brother, after all. Also, the person who killed my family. He was Kakashi's--" The jounin looked at him sharply but Sasuke continued fluidly, "--closest friend. They often picked me and Naruto up from the academy. Itachi was a genius. Brilliant in battle, strong, and intelligent in the common ways of life as well." Tsunade nodded, but she had noticed the slight, if only a millisecond, hitch in Sasuke's voice when he had placed a label on Itachi's relationship with Kakashi. And also, he didn't seem to mind talking about the man who 'murdered his own family.' '_So maybe Sasuke doesn't entirely hate Itachi. Perhaps he can't_,' she thought with slight interest. However she did not stop him in his tale. "Naruto and I were close. He called us brothers. I sparred with him and Neji almost every day to catch up with my brother. I sparred with Neji more often because he was stronger--Naruto was great to be around, he was always smiling, but he didn't do well with sparring and practicing katas. He much more enjoyed playing, even if he knew it was training disguised as a game. I spent more time with Neji because he was more focused and had a goal like me; I swore I would be as strong as my brother while Neji sought the acceptance of his family. When Naruto disappeared, I swore another thing--that I would find him and bring him back. I increased my training with Neji and shortly after began challenging Itachi himself. My brother refused and then ..." Here he stopped, looking up from his feet and refusing to speak again. Tsunade accepted the silence and stood behind her desk.

"All right. It seems that Naruto-kun, in many people's eyes, didn't act like this before. In fact, according to most of you, he was weak and almost incapable of shinobi techniques. He preferred to play games and joke around than train seriously or do anything life-threatening." Sasuke and Iruka nodded their assent. Tsunade put her hand to her chin and frowned, a look of concentration and then frustration coming over her face. "Perhaps I need to think on this a little more ..." Tsunade looked around at the faces before her and sighed.

"All right, that's it. I can't concentrate with so many people in the room. Get out--oh, and thank you all for coming." They sweat dropped then stood and bowed, and the ANBU outside the doors returned to their posts as Tsunade turned to the large pile of paperwork to her left.

Outside, Hinata met up with Tenten and Sakura. Both quickly began questioning her about the interrogation.

"What was she like?"

"What kind of questions did she ask?"

"Was she really as pretty as they say?"

"Did she seem interested in Sasuke-kun?"

"Is Kakashi-sensei better? Can we go back to our original teams?"

Hinata stuttered, trying to get them to stop, "S-slow down, p-plea ..."

"What kind of questions did she ask, Hinata-chan?"

"Why did Sasuke-kun go in there with you and not the rest of us? We're on your team, too."

"What did Tenmari-chan say? Did she say anything about that guy she fought?"

"Yeah! Did she know anything about that guy and his friends? They were really--"

"Girls, I think that Hinata doesn't appreciate the attention," said Kakashi, rubbing the girl's back as she blushed and shyed away from the attention the two kunoichis were giving her. Sakura and Tenten flushed in embarrassment for a moment and then regained their posture, but when they went to question Hinata again, Sasuke was standing between them. "Leave her alone," he said softly, "we had a mission, didn't we?" Gai, who had also been waiting outside with Tenten, Sakura, Lee and Neji, nodded the confirmation. "Yes ..."

Iruka said he needed to be getting back to classes, and Tenmari hurried off to return to her small apartment. Kakashi kept an eye on Sasuke--it seemed talking that much had brought something back to the surface. Possibly feelings that he didn't understand ... Kakashi stopped only a second, his heart thinking of a different Uchiha, and then he walked on, hands in his pockets as his team headed towards the exit.

* * *

A month later, after she'd had conquered the mountain of paper to her left, Gai and Hiashi were called into Tsunade's office. The two jounin were seated in front of the Hokage, eyes glued to her desk. Tsunade looked up from her papers, and took a large swig from her foot-tall mug of coffee. She looked like she'd been up all night, and Gai didn't blame her--the stack of signed papers to her right towered over her by almost three feet and threatened to fall any moment. After bowing deeply, the two waited for her to speak first. She looked across her table, took another sip from her mug, and then sighed, standing up.

"You were the two that went with Hatake Kakashi immediately after the incident a few months ago, correct?" Hiashi and Gai both nodded. "Hai, Lady Tsunade, Godaime, respectful Hokage-sama."

Tsunade groaned and ran a hand through her blonde locks in frustration. "Everyone keeps calling me that--it makes me feel way older than I really am!!!" She thrust a finger at the two men, who jumped. "Call me all of those titles at once one more time and I'll maim you in some nasty, irreparable way." Taking a deep breath, she pushed her bangs out of her eyes and smiled brightly at the two twitching men who were edging away from her. "Now, shall we begin?"

Her air of humor dropped and she addressed the two of them with the utmost seriousness. "I need to know exactly what happened. Why did the mission fail? Why did Kakashi only request for two jounins to accompany him instead of waiting for the ANBU teams, which would have been more efficient?" Gai and Hiashi looked at each other and Gai cleared his throat, beginning. They told Tsunade about Kakashi's encounter with Itachi and the three different times he'd been exposed to the shiringan eye. Tsunade paled as their stories unfolded, becoming more and more convinced that Kakashi was insane. '_How can someone stand up to the influence of the shiringan three times in a row?_' The silver-haired jounin must have been even more incredible than she'd accounted for. Hiashi and Gai told her what they recalled of their fights with Gaara and Naruto, and both seemed to hold a grudge against Gaara for hurting Neji. Gai didn't seem too keen about the subject of Naruto, either; after all, he had severely injured his star pupil. Tsunade thanked them for their information and dismissed them. Leaning back against her chair, she took some papers in her hands and gave a long sigh. She summoned an ANBU into the room. The man with a dog-mask appeared and kneeled by her desk before standing and requesting to know what she wanted of him. Tiredly, Tsunade put a hand to her head.

"I need you to gather several people for me ..."

* * *

Kakashi sat down in front of Tsunade. She sighed and pushed the bangs out of her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that week. "Ok," she said, "I heard you were the one that brought Iruka-kun to a hospital first. Since then, he's received a whopping two hours of actual medical attention." Kakashi sweat dropped and coughed, feigning ignorance on the subject. Tsunade didn't buy it.

"You're really bad at lying, you know that?" Kakashi shrugged. "That's what my students tell me." Tsunade's eye twitched and Kakashi quickly told her the truth. He knew the signs of oncoming female anger as well as the next smart man.

"Yes, I did take him to the hospital first. What about it? You're a medical nin--does he need more or less attention?" Tsunade rubbed her temples and sighed. "His case is very delicate. First, tell me about the first instance he showed signs of illness." Kakashi put a hand to his chin and thought back.

"I guess it was a few years ago ..."

**FlashBack> FlashBack**

_Shutting the door to his apartment, the silver-haired twenty year old jumped onto the couch to start reading the new edition of Icha Icha Paradise. He grinned as he took the book in his hands but then stopped and frowned. Where was his bookmark? Something suddenly dangled in front of his face and he jumped as he felt the chakara behind him. Survival training kicked in and a kunai was in his hands before he had a chance to think about it. With a swipe, he took back the bookmark and flipped the intruder over to the ground. Panting and staring wide-eyed at the chuunin smiling up at him from the floor, Kakashi winced and dropped the kunai in his hands. _

_"Hiya, Kakashi-san! Wanna go play with Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan?" _

_"Iruka!! NEVER sneak up on me like that! I could have killed you!" Iruka smiled up at him. "I know. That's why it's fun!"_

**FlashBack> Present**

"And so you sent him to a regular hospital?!" Tsunade burst out, the corner of her eye twitching and reminding Kakashi of the chuunin in question.

"... you're just like Sasuke. Don't interrupt me till I'm done." Tsunade sighed and leaned back into her recliner. "All right," she grumbled, "what else was there?"

_'What more could there be?'_

**FlashBack> FlashBack**

_"Guess what?" _

_"Iruka, please, I'm very tired." _

_"Guess what?" _

_"Iruka, it's almost six o' clock, don't you have to eat dinner?" _

_"Guess what?" _

_"I'll guess if you tell me one thing--why are you here?" _

_"Guess!" _

_Kakashi sighed, hands crossing over his chest in slight amusement. "All right, I'll bite. What?" Iruka smiled brightly. _

_"... he said that he finally got the hang of three tails suppressed today," said Iruka softly, almost whispering, "and that he's going to try for four in another day." Kakashi frowned. "What are you talking about? Iruka, you never make any sense anymore." Iruka smiled. "When have I ever made sense?" Kakashi shook his head. "Right. I forgot." The chuunin grinned down at Kakashi and the silver-haired man rolled his eyes. "I don't understand you at all."_

**FlashBack> Present**

Tsunade nodded and then sighed. "How about a more ... recent one."

"All right. Let's see ..." He held his chin and then looked Tsunade in the eye. "This was just a few hours before the Hokage's death ..." Tsunade nodded, tensing at Kakashi's sudden serious tone of voice.

**FlashBack> FlashBack**

_"Kakashi!" _

_The silver-haired jounin jumped and turned at the sound of a familiar voice. His eye widened and then narrowed. "Iruka? What are you doing here?" The chuunin was smiling at him as he walked across the roof towards his superior. Kakashi appeared next to him as Iruka lost his balance and stopped him from falling. "Iruka, how did you get here?" _

_Iruka giggled. "Guess what?" _

_Kakashi shook his head. "Iruka ... How did you get out of the hospital? I've got to get you back to--" the chuunin leaned in, giggling, and whispered something into Kakashi's ear. _

_"He's going to paint his father's throne red ..." _

_Kakashi frowned. "What do--Iruka, are you all right?" Iruka nodded and then promptly fell asleep. Kakashi grunted as he scooped up Iruka's full weight and disappeared from the rooftop. Gai was congratulating Tenten as Kakashi appeared next to him. "Hey! Gai!" The jounin jumped and looked at his rival--and then the person in his arms. "Iruka-kun!!!" Kakashi held out a finger that poked Gai's forehead, keeping him a foot away from Iruka. "Hey, get serious. I need you to run him to the hospital." Gai's face fell and then he nodded. "Thanks." Kakashi handed Iruka over and Gai was gone in a swirl of smoke. Kakashi turned his gaze to the arena. The board had flashed above him and the two next names were being displayed. _

**FlashBack> Present**

Tsunade gawked at him. "And you didn't tell anyone what he said?!" Kakashi frowned. "How was I supposed to know that he was right? I didn't even know who he was talking about at the time--he could have ment Hyuuga Neji for all I knew ..."

"But he was right."

"Unfortunately.

"He was _right_, Kakashi ..." Tsunade looked at her desk with worried eyes. '_very right.'_ Looking up suddenly, she asked him for anything odd he'd said since then. "There was one more--just after the three left the stadium ..."

(A/N: sorry for all the flashbacks!)

**FlashBack> FlashBack**

_Iruka had known. Kakashi looked down at the chuunin with a wide eye. Iruka had KNOWN. But how? How? He had been in the hospital, and neither Naruto or Gaara had been sighted in Konoha anytime before this for almost ten years. _**_How_**_? He had said something that seemed unclear but now it was obvious. _

_"They're coming back." _

_They had come back--they had returned to Konoha, only to kill the Hokage. Only to kill ... _

_Kakashi snapped out of his trance when Iruka made a noise of discomfort, holding his head in his hands. Kakashi dropped to his knees next to Iruka, eye searching the chuunin's face with worry. Iruka's eyes shut and then blinked open, his irises dilated and shock-blue. With a sad gaze, Iruka ran a hand through Sasuke's hair, the shivering teenager turning over in his unconsciousness. _

_"He won't tell you." Kakashi looked to Iruka's cold, blue, glazed eyes. "... who?" _

_Iruka looked down at Sasuke and the teenager's fingers twitched in his sleep. He mumbled a word that Kakashi couldn't decipher and Iruka looked down on him with a sad smile. _

_"I'm sorry ... he can't tell you until the Dawn ..."_

**FlashBack> Present**

Tsunade sat back in her chair. "... I don't know what to make of this," she muttered before flipping her bangs out of her eyes and giving Kakashi a glare.

"The best way to find out how something works is to pull out the cogs and see how they turn first-hand--" Kakashi's eye widened. "--but I can't do that to a human without permanently damaging them, so we'll have to examine the external effects of this." Kakashi let out a deep breath. He'd though Tsunade had actually been suggesting ...

An ANBU appeared in the room per Tsunade's command and he knelt, asking her requests.

"I want you to get me Umino Iruka. Do it quietly. He doesn't have to know why, just bring him. He shouldn't resist--in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't care."

The ANBU nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tsunade turned her gaze back to Kakashi. "I want to question him further. But tell me again--what did he say to you all those times that made you feel like you needed to send him to a regular hospital?" Kakashi looked at the ground guiltily.

"I guess it was because I didn't notice any other changes. I don't know much about Iruka ... he's just a chuunin. I only know him because he taught Sasuke and Naruto when they were younger ..."

He stopped abruptly as the ANBU appeared again in another puff of smoke and this time with a certain smiling, brown-haired chuunin. Tsunade nodded at the chair next to Kakashis and Iruka took it, looking at Tsunade over her desk. "Tsunade-sama."

"Iruka-kun. I've called you here to ask you a few questions." Iruka nodded and then his head jerked and he groaned, eyes widening before shutting tightly, and Kakashi jumped in his seat as Iruka's eyes opened again, and he saw it. The brown orbs screamed as the dark murky color swirled to his pupils like water flushing down a drain, replaced by shock-blue irises with bright white slits in the middle. Tsunade noticed the change and tensed, standing up and waiting for Iruka to do something.

The chuunin blinked and stood up, walking over to the window and putting a hand to the glass. Kakashi got up and stood next to the Hokage, ready to defend her if necessary. He'd never seen Iruka get violent, but who knew what was going on with him right now?

"Oh, Naruto, don't cry."

Tsunade and Kakashi felt their eyes widen but they did not interrupt Iruka to ask how or if he was even really speaking to Naruto. They could only watch as Iruka smiled out the window to the invisible boy.

"Hush, now, Naruto--it'll be ok. I'm sorry that I can't be there to help--it must be hard on you, you're just a kid ... Haku-chan seemed like a nice person, too ..." Kakashi's eye widened. Tsunade looked to him for an explanation. Quickly, Kakashi whispered-- "When Gai and Hyuuga-san went with me to the forest, the three missing-nins met up with another boy--'Haku' must be who he was, but from what Iruka's saying ... he might have died." Tsunade had nothing to say. Iruka continued to speak to the window.

"How did he die? ... poison?! Oh, Naruto ...I'm so sorry."

Kakashi felt a pang of sympathy towards the boy. Poison wasn't the best way to go--and he had looked so innocent ... just like Naruto.

"It'll be ok. You still have Gaara-kun and me, oh, and Itachi-kun." Kakashi stiffened at the name. Iruka talked on, however, without noticing anything that transpired within the room, as his mind and heart was somewhere else.

"Aa. All right. Make sure that you stay well, Naruto-kun. All right."

Iruka turned to Kakashi, his bright blue eyes draining of their color before the chuunin smiled widely at the shocked and confused figures before him.

"You'll never guess where they're going for a vacation!!!"

Kakashi and Tsunade felt their eyes widen and the doors burst open.

A surprised and irritated Shikamaru caught the ten shuriken sent their way before Tsunade realized that her fears hadn't come true. Kakashi grunted and fell into his chair, shaking his head. "Boys," he said roughly, addressing Shikamaru and also Sasuke and Kiba who'd followed him in, "you should know better than to interrupt the Hokage when she's in a meeting." Kiba's eye twitched and he yelled, "Well, we need to talk to the Hokage!!! There's been some complaints from the jounin who conducted the last mission--they all agree that the mission class and the pay don't match! And on top of that, someone's botched the communication on--"

A vein on Tsunade's forehead throbbed. "I DON'T NEED YOU BRATS TO COMPLICATE THINGS!!!!"

"Well, we really don't wanna complicate things for you, y'know?" sang a voice from behind Tsunade, who froze as the voice confirmed her greatest fear, "but the countryside is so pretty this time of year; I think we'll stay."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Shikamaru tensed, along with Kiba and Kakashi.

Naruto looked around. "What? No guest service?"

Gaara, arms crossed over his chest, shrugged and stood silently. They loomed over either side of Iruka's shoulders, their eyes covered by shadow and short bangs. Naruto looked the same as he had from the chuunin exams almost a year ago, and wore no headband, only a blue shirt with a large red swirl and gray pants that made no sound when he walked or moved. Gaara wore a purple flannel shirt, a black vest over that, and black pants that mirrored Narutos, save the color. Other than that, both boys wore hand-woven packs at their waists, and no visible weapons. Kiba sniffed the air and covered his nose quickly. '_Wh-what a strong fragrence ... of blood!'_ Kiba's mind reeled--although the smell of blood was usually sickening, something about this blood was ... inviting. Intoxicating. He took three steps back into the wall, the scent rushing through his hands and penetrating his senses. Shikamaru dropped to his side as Kiba twitched, arms fallen to his stomach as if he were in great pain, and the other boy turned to Naruto and Gaara with a glare. The two were looking at Tsunade now.

Iruka, between the two of them, had his arms crossed over his chest, looking half-annoyed, half-amused. "It's about time you two got here," he said. Naruto stuck out his tongue. "Meh--you try getting Gaa-chan to come back to a place he don't like--it's like trying to paint the entire world blue to match the sky." Iruka shook his head and Gaara frowned. "I'm not _that_ bad ..."

Iruka smiled. "Well, it's good to have you two back." Naruto hugged his teacher, and the motion snapped Tsunade out of her reserve. "Release him!" Naruto blinked and released Iruka, who hugged Naruto anyway. Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Iruka, come away from that murder." Iruka looked up and smiled. "Now, now, they've been bad, sure, but that's how kids are. They only have a while left before they have to be grown-up."

"Iruka, they're almost eighteen--they should step up and take punishment for their actions," reasoned Kakashi, trying to hint at Iruka's instability of mind. Shikamaru caught the undertone in Kakashi's voice but Sasuke and Kiba missed it. Gaara's eyes narrowed and he uncrossed his arms. The usually normal gesture from Gaara stopped everyone. The hand traveled up to his gourd, and the entire room tensed. With a pop, the sand on his back disappeared. For a moment, no one knew what had happened, and suddenly the sunlight which had been pouring into the room was halted and a small amount of sand came back to Gaara's back, the rest of it had formed effective barriers on all windows and doors. The red head looked back to Tsunade, jade eyes flashing in the pale light of one lamp.

"It seems we are at an impass."

Tsunade frowned. "How so?"

"Simple. You refuse to let us stay, and we refuse to leave."

Tsunade smirked and pushed a button on her desk. "Well, you're about to."

* * *

Next chapter soon-Sorry for taking forever!!! T-T I promise I'll try to go faster ... only three people review every time I update. That's depressing--but it's good to know that someone out there cares. Thank you !!!

Preivew:

"How many clones?" Naruto smiled. "One for every life to take."

Naruto grinned up at Iruka and Tenmari nodded, and Iruka left her there with two little boys of five, smiling up at her brightly.

She promptly fainted.

:) please to review!


	10. Vacation's End

**CHAPTER 10: Vacation's End**

**THIS is the chapter we leave Konoha.** Sorry, that was just in bold and I don't have the patience or time to un-bold it. Anyway, this chapter is very confusing for the fact that I switch writing styles (like, suddenly i'm using extra-long sentences and flashy words, etc.) but other than that, we see a kiss, another kiss, and the end of something neither Gaara nor Naruto had ever expected.

Again, I must credit this chapter purely to my readers, including CrimsonNightmare, Ghostninja85, Bakudon, and HikaruOfArrow (i think that's who youare T-T) You motivate me to update faster. Wow! This is only 25 pages when you get it down to 10-point font! (usually I write in 10-point; 12 is way too big and I can't read 9.)

**Hey! This is a warning!**

**WARNING**: This chapter has not yet been edited (by moi or any outside source) and therefore may have flaws. However, I would not allow myself to be so lazy with updating anymore. Please read and forgive me!

..oo00oo..

(Hey! HAve you read the warning yet?)

..oo00oo..

"It seems we are at an impass."

Tsunade frowned. "How so?"

"Simple. You refuse to let us stay, and we refuse to leave."

Tsunade pushed a button on her desk and smirked. "Well, you're about to."

Gaara wasn't moved.

Tsunade frowned. Nothing happened. She pressed the button again, and again, and Gaara crossed his arms over his chest again.

Kiba groaned from the floor, muttering, "com'n'cation ... down ..." Tsunade whirled at the boy. "What?! How--" she turned back to Naruto, and Gaara, whose eyes screamed in the darkness, laughing down at her. She boiled with anger but Naruto spoke up first.

"All we want is somewhere to sleep an' stay for a few days. If you can give us that and promise not to tell no one we're here, the people outside can go to sleep with all their limbs." Kakashi grimaced. Sasuke could keep quiet no longer.

"What do you mean?!" Naruto blinked and looked over at Sasuke. "We mean we gotta lotta clones outside, all over the city, an' when we think so, they'll go ahead and kill every person in the village." Tsunade frowned and Sasuke growled.

"That's low," hissed Sasuke as Kakashi spoke up. "How many clones?"

Naruto smiled. "One for every life to take."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "That's impossible--I mean, you'd need to be sustaining over three hundred clones ..." He looked at Naruto and Gaara with amazement and something like respect, "if you can do that, without straining yourselves ..." Naruto laughed. "Of course we can't yet! Me an' Gaa-chan together can only manage a hun'red an' fifty." His eyes flashed blood-red and Tsunade felt a wave of confusion hit her. The Kyuubi ... the nine-tailed fox. Her judgment of the boy suddenly seemed too heavy. He bore a heavy burden already ...

"You're bluffing." Sasuke had spat, tired of everyone taking pity on some one who'd obviously not considered what it took to make that many bunshin, even if they had defeated Neji and were teamed up with his murderous brother.

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Can you afford for the new Hokage to call that bluff?"

Tsunade choked and Naruto put an arm around Iruka's shoulder as the tension in the room built.

Sasuke, unable to take the silence after a while, held his arm out and gripped it at the wrist with the other. Gaara held his own hand out, and sand gathered on his palm, forming a small ball. Sasuke's hand formed a fist and the room began to dim as he summoned the chidori to his fingertips. Tsunade felt their power begin to concentrate to one point and she knew that if they collided, one would survive and the other would be the new carpet design.

"Stop!!!"

Sasuke glared. "Hokage-sama ..." Tsunade let out a shout.

"Uchiha Sasuke! Disengage your chidori _this instant_!!!"

Reluctantly, the electricity in Sasuke's hand died and was quieted. Shikamaru gave him an apologetic look before his shadow merged with Sasuke's and held him in place. Bound by the shadow, Sasuke could no longer attack. The sand around Gaara's fist disappeared and Tsunade turned to both boys on either side of Iruka with a last attempt to refuse them.

"You're not welcome here," she said firmly, "we are still weak as it is, and still recovering from the damage **you** caused at the last chuunin exams we hosted. You're S-ranked criminals. If we let you stay here and gave you protection and housing and food after what you've done--"

"We're sorry."

For a moment, the pitifully sad blue eyes almost made Tsunade lose her resolve.

"The hell you are."

Sasuke snapped her back to reality. These two had cut off the heads of two men, one old beyond his years and another she didn't know nearly as well. As innocent as they looked, they were--

"Monsters." Tsunade turned to look at Sasuke, who was on the receiving end of every shocked gaze in the room. "You killed our Hokage--you allied with my brother, who killed his OWN FAMILY--"

"Except you," interrupted a voice. Kakashi sighed as the gazes now fell upon him and he put a hand behind his head. "Well, let's ignore what Sasuke-kun said and try to move on. First, the Hokage is right--we have almost no reason to let you stay, save the threat of three-hundred deaths on her decision. And we don't have proof of your clones."

"However, there is a peaceful solution to this. You could let them stay with a trusted chuunin or jounin for a few days, with the agreement that they hide their identities." To this, there was instant protest.

"What?!"

"Kakashi, how could you even think that?"

"You're insane and troublesome."

"I think it's a great idea."

Everyone turned to stare at Iruka. The chuunin smiled at the two boys and for a moment, Kakashi wondered what was so wrong about the smiling teenagers. Tsunade wondered the same. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"You should be dead." Gaara settled his glare on the younger Uchiha and snarled. Tsunade tensed but Naruto glomped the taller boy and his ire was washed away instantly. Sasuke recalled being in the hospital with Neji, and Naruto having the same power over the red head. He wondered what in the world Naruto saw in Gaara to stay with the insane boy. Naruto looked over Gaara's shoulder at Tsunade.

"You should let us stay ..." Tsunade swallowed. "And why is that?" She'd almost given in to their wishes, and now the small boy in Naruto was looking up at her with serious eyes. She prayed in her heart for Naruto to have a stupid, childish reason for wanting to stay, for there not to be some deep, dangerous secret that she didn't want to hear.

"Because this is the week of the full moon." It took Kakashi a moment to comprehend the comment and then he froze. Shikamaru spoke. "Tomorrow night's the full moon--"

No one spoke. The unspoken offer was '_let us stay or we'll let the demons out to play._' She had to concede defeat.

"You can stay."

Sasuke and Shikamaru burst. "WHAT?!!!!?!?!"

Tsunade whirled on the two older gennin. "SHUT UP!!" They fell silent, flinching back at her outburst. Calming herself, Tsunade returned her attention to the two boys next to Iruka. "You can stay. You can't be seen in public, you can't reveal your identity, you must follow all rules of the shinobi and villagers. You can stay for three days--no more." Gaara nodded and Naruto released his neck and shoulders, fingers lingering on muscles along his neck before leaving. "As for your housing, you can't stay with Iruka or Kakashi, even if they trust you two. You'll have to stay with Tenmari-san--she'll be the only person who would accept you into their house."

Gaara looked up at the name. "Tenmari's here?"

Shikamaru nodded. "She lives in the same apartment as me and Chouji ..." The darkness around Gaara seemed to flicker, a smile creeping onto his face for only a moment, and just as soon it was gone. But his gaze softened slightly and he looked at Naruto.

"... I-can we see her?" Naruto nodded.

"Sure--she IS your big sis', after all."

Tsunade felt something tug at the back of her mind and she snorted at their childish joy at the prospect of meeting an older sibling. Bitterly, she waved her hand, "it's not my fault if she won't let you in."

Naruto and Gaara stopped smiling and looked at Tsunade. "You really don't like us, do you, ya old hag?" asked Naruto with some sadness. A vein stood out on Tsunade's head. "No. And I DONOTLIKE being called OLD." Naruto looked to Sasuke, and Kakashi, and Shikamaru, and Kiba, who was unconscious on the floor, and then at Gaara.

"Gaa-chan ..." /_Uh-oh./_ It was That voice. The voice that Naruto used when he wanted something that usually ended up in either pain or humiliation.

"No."

"But--"

"No."

"Gaa-chaaaan, pleeease?"

"... no."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't even know what I wanna do!"

Gaara shrugged. "I don't have to. Absolutely not, to whatever it is."

Naruto's eyes blinked and tears formed at the edges. Sasuke started at how painfully … _adorable_ the face was. '_Wait--what?_' Shikamaru was staring at the face with a light blush, and even Kakashi looked allured. Tsunade was sure that if Naruto asked Sasuke, Shikamaru or Kakashi for something, he'd get it as quick as they could deliver; however, Gaara had spent many, many years building a resistance against The Face.

Of course, in return, Naruto had spent years breaking those walls.

"Fine."

"YAAAHHHHAHH!!!"

Gaara put a hand to his forehead as Naruto jumped up and down, laughing happily. Sasuke looked sort of peeved again, and Shikamaru muttered his word. Kakashi watched with interest as the seventeen-year old Naruto and Gaara disappeared into a thick mist that appeared from nowhere into the room, enveloping them both and, accompanied by a pop, the smoke began to fade away.

"We've halved our power," piped a voice from in the smoke. Tsunade's eyes narrowed. '_Who's that? The voice is too high for either Naruto or Gaara ..._' When the smoke cleared, two little boys jumped up out of the clearing mist, leaping at Iruka with similar shouts of laughter. Iruka laughed in surprise as he caught the kid in his arms, the other landing on his shoulder.

"Whoa, there, Naruto! And Gaara-kun's here, too! I thought you'd gone off to the Snow with Itachi! Huh ..." Every eye in the room stared in shock and surprise at the two five-year-old boys who glomped Iruka accordingly, laughing for all they were worth.

The brown-haired chuunin turned to Tsunade, oblivious to the fact that he and the five-year-olds in his possession had become the center of attention, and smiled. "If Naruto and Gaara-kun are here, then Itachi-kun will be along, and watching from somewhere nearby." Everyone tensed at the mention of Itachi. Shikamaru tightened his hold on Sasuke through the shadows as his body fought the dark hold. Sasuke's eyes swirled blood red and screamed at the children with a hatred meant for an older man. Shikamaru rose an eyebrow at Sasuke. "If this is to be a peaceful interaction, Sasuke-kun, then you have to _keep_ your _cool_." Tsunade nodded. '_Good call,_' she thought as she turned back to Iruka. The chuunin was now facing Kakashi. "Hey, I'm gonna go take these two down to Tenmari-kun's place, and you can go say 'hi' to Itachi-kun." Iruka gave him a wink and Kakashi blinked, deciding the best thing to do was to play along. He nodded. "All right, then," said Iruka brightly, hugging the small boys close as a girl would hug her dolls to her chest, he walked straight past the Hokage and the most powerful rookie ninjas in all Konoha. Shikamaru caught Iruka as he went out with a, 'hey, Iruka-sensei.' Iruka nodded at him and smiled back. "Hello, Shikamaru-kun. Don't be late to your next mission. I'm sure your new instructor wouldn't be happy if you were late again." Shikamaru nodded and let him go, looking kind of sad.

The moment the door had locked, Tsunade turned to Shikamaru. "Bind everyone." Without a word or question, it was done. The shadow caught Kakashi and Tsunade as well as Kiba in its grasp, and Sasuke growled. Tsunade looked around the room grimly, and spoke over Sasuke's growl.

"I herby swear each and every one of you to absolute silence. You will never speak of this--Naruto and Gaara are not mentioned by you for any reason until I find a way or reason to safely extract them from the country."

She gave Shikamaru a nod, and they were all released--even Sasuke. Moving behind her desk, she collapsed in her chair, pushing her bangs back with a shaking hand. Her eyes moved to the occupants of the room. "Word can't get out that we're housing the monsters that killed our Sandiame."

Kiba, who'd woken some seconds after Iruka and the two boys had gone, groaned and held his shoulders. Shikamaru knelt down next to him, helping him up. He turned to Sasuke. "Oi, Uchiha, help me take Kiba to the medical ward." The still-glowering boy nodded slowly, the muscles in his neck only loosening to allow the movement, and tensing again as his anger grew. Shikamaru sighed._ 'How troublesome.'_ Once they left, Tsunade turned to Kakashi.

"I'll expect you to be the first to report on Itachi's location, if not Iruka," she said softly. Kakashi didn't answer, and disappeared without her leave. She slid back in her chair and stared out the window into the brilliant blue sky.

..oo00oo..

_**(Hey! HAve you read the warning yet?)**_

..oo00oo..

"One second!!!"

Tenmari jumped over the railing, landing two stories bellow on the first floor and panting slightly as the doorbell rang again. The kunoichi threw open the door with some irritation. "I'm here, I'm here!"

"That's good," said a small voice at about her knee-level, "so're we." Tenmari blinked and stared at the sight before her. Iruka, the teacher at the academy, was holding hand of a small, blonde boy who reminded her of someone she knew she'd seen before, and also, of that boy she'd fought in the chuunin exams, only three feet shorter, and years younger. What shocked her beyond reason and word was the little figure in Iruka's arms. Bright red hair sat atop a pale face, two jade eyes peering up at her through dark black lines. Iruka smiled as recognition and realization drew across Tenmari's face and she gasped softly, holding out her arms and taking the figure from Iruka with some delicacy.

"... can it be you? Gaara?"

Iruka smiled. "Tenmari-kun, would you be so kind as to watch these two for a few days? I really should be getting back to the classroom, and I need someone we trust to watch these troublemakers." Naruto grinned up at Iruka and Tenmari nodded, and Iruka left her there with two little boys of five, smiling up at her brightly.

She promptly fainted.

..oo00oo..

An hour later, she woke to the smell of ramen in her kitchen. Dragging herself into a sitting position, she discovered that she'd somehow been moved onto the couch. Groaning, she held her head and wondered what had happened.

"Ah, you're up!"

Tenmari spun to meet the eyes of a small blonde, who held a cup of water and a bowl of ramen with chopsticks balanced across the brim. He brought the food over and then skipped back to the kitchen. Tenmari looked at the bowl and then threw up her hands. What would it hurt to play along? She silently hoped the bowl would turn around and bite her, just so she could deem the odd experience a dream.

When Naruto and Gaara returned to the room, Tenmari had finished the ramen and was sipping her water. The two wandered over, smiling up at her. "You all better now?" asked Naruto in his high-pitched voice. Tenmari sighed.

"I guess. Who are you two, really?" Naruto and Gaara turned to each other and then back to Tenmari.

"I'm Naruto--"

"--and I'm Gaara."

It was as simple as that, and Tenmari saw no reason for it to be any more complicated.

Deciding that both boys were telling the truth, Tenmari asked a question. "Where are your families?"

"Mine's faraway," mumbled Gaara to himself, "in a desert. I got a big brother and sister. I like them." He looked up at Tenmari. "You're her." Tenmari blinked and nodded. "Yeah ... I guess ... I am ..."

"I don't gotta family," said Naruto, "I got Gaa-chan, and he's all I ever need." Here, the blonde attached himself to the other boy's shoulders and squeezed. Gaara laughed and Naruto grinned and Tenmari felt some smile leak onto her face.

"Tenmari-chan, are you mad at Gaa-chan for runnin' away?" Tenmari blinked, "Wha-oh, ah, I--"

"I'm really sorry, sis," piped the small red head as he and Naruto tumbled over together, falling on the floor and Tenmari shook her head in a daze. "No, I guess I'm not. No. I'm not mad at you." Naruto's eyes widened and he sat up, looking up at the much taller girl with some hope.

"D-D'ya ... D'ya wanna play with us?"

Tenmari nodded, her mind working unconsciously to uncover facts as her training had taught her. "Sure; let's tell stories--Naruto can start because he wanted to play first." Naruto beamed.

"Ok! What kinda story do you want?"

"How about your story?"

"Ok!"

..oo00oo..

"… an' now we're here," mumbled Naruto, rubbing his eyes sleepily before leaning on Gaara's shoulder and dropping off to sleep. The other boy blinked at his sister sleepily before laying his head on Naruto's head and following him to dreams. Tenmari smiled softly and took the boys up in her arms, feeling much like a mother. She silently opened the door to the bedroom next to her own and slipped inside, depositing the two boys into a fluffy bed. As they hit the soft material, they separated, but quickly squirmed to huddle together again, and Tenmari couldn't restrain a coo as she watched them shiver and snore silently. Drawing the covers over their heads, she smiled down at her little brother and kissed the tattoo on his forehead. He squirmed in his sleep, and put a hand on her forehead which slid down and landed on the covers. A smile lit her face and she crept away, shutting them in the room.

"Sweet Dreams," she whispered as the door clicked shut.

..oo00oo..

Naruto blinked and sat up, looking around the room. Tenmari had left the door unlocked. He beamed.

'_They trust us!'_

Turning over, he glomped the five-year old Gaara by the shoulders and jade eyes snapped open. The sand stirred sleepily and both boys scrambled out of the sheets, bumping into each other in the process. They slid their shirts and pants on before running to the door and vaulting off the hand railing they found there, falling to the first floor. Tenmari, awake since six o'clock, gave both boys a smile as they abruptly landed in her arms and were ushered to sit at her table. The two dug into a breakfast of fried rice with bits of egg and various vegetables and drank cool milk as Tenmari set out a cup of green tea for herself.

"So," she began conversationally, "you're that guy from the chuunin exams, then ... huh. So that fox made you this young again?" Naruto nodded through a mouthful of rice. Gaara swallowed his milk and looked to his sister. "You're really taking this well," he said in his small voice, "for someone who ran away for a dozen years." Tenmari looked thoughtful for a moment and then dismissed it.

"You found me again, and I have my baby brother back. That's what matters. Besides, something tells me it's all right--something in here." She put a hand to her chest. Both boys looked at each other in something between joy and shock and suddenly Tenmari was tackled by the two and they tumbled to the ground, laughing and hugging, and after a few minutes of trying to catch their breaths, Tenmari suggested they go explore the place they'd met.

"It'll be fun," she promised as she dusted herself off, watching Gaara and Naruto help themselves to their feet again, "and I'll make you two lunch or dinner. Be back at 11:30 or 4:30, sharp." Tenmari had ushered them to the front of the apartment in her excitement. The two nodded, and she smiled, pushing them out the door. "Have fun!"

As the door to Tenmari's apartment shut behind them, the door to Konoha's streets opened before them.

..oo00oo..

With a smirk, Gaara tagged Naruto's shoulder and shot up the side of a building. Dazed for only a moment at his usually shy playmate's actions, Naruto took off with a similar burst of speed, shooting after the red head to the roof of a building and flying at the started boy with a yell of childish glee. Tumbling onto the next roof, Gaara watched their reflections pass underneath and his eyes widened as a whiskered reflection laughed back at him from the broken shards of glass bellow--

'His whiskers--' Just as plain as the tattoo on his forehead, the whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks would give them away instantly. Gaara froze and ordered Naruto to stop with a thought. The blonde stopped short in front of Gaara's face, blinking inches from his nose. Gaara gave the other boy a shove and made an irritated noise.

"Naruto, your face!"

"What about my face?"

"Your whiskers!"

"My whiskers? What whiskers?"

"These," Gaara pressed a hand to either side of Naruto's face and his eyes widened in horror.

_**/Kit, how could you forget about me?!/ **_

_/Whaaa, I didn't mean to!!!/_

'_**You ain't the only one--that tattoo on your head makes you just as suspicious.'**_

'_I forgot.'_

_**/Easy to forget these things, when they're marred in your skin./**_

'_**Well, get them covered up, quick!'**_

"Hai!" Both boys quickly pulled out their disguises--Naruto slapped two large bandages on his cheeks, and Gaara tugged a triangular elf-hat on over his forehead so only up to his eyes showed. Naruto pulled out a similar hat and pulled down over his loud, spiky, blonde hair.

Both boys looked at each other and laughed.

"You look _ridiculous_!!!"

"Same to you."

"Well, now that we're ready, let's go play!"

"You're still it!"

Together they leapt, over the roof and fell through the sky till they found the street. Landing softly, they jumped over people's heads and laughed as they tumbled into other children, making instant friends because of their silly looks and Naruto's bright disposition. Rushing around, they passed a black-haired teenager walking around with another boy his age. The first boy's eyes followed the blonde until he was out of sight and the hand on his arm clenched.

"Sasuke? What is it?"

"... Nothing, Neji. Let's go, Hinata said she'd have it at the shop ..."

..oo00oo..

Ino sighed. "I don't get it," she muttered as Hinata blushed, taking the proffered bouquet from the small boy in front of the counter and placing it with the other bunches she'd received that day, "why are you suddenly so popular among the kids?"

Hinata flushed. "W-well, I-I kind of h-helped Shikamaru-kun y-yesterday ... h-he was assigned to p-pass out th-the kids' work and ..." While she was telling Ino about her encounter with some colorful water-paints and glitter, the door opened to the flower shop. Ino looked up and tossed a wadded-up apron at the girl who caught it and slid it on over her red shirt.

"Hey, Ino. You look pissed," greeted the pink-haired kunoichi cheerfully. Ino scowled and grunted at her. "Whatever. You take over the register; I'm gonna go see about some lunch." Hinata looked up from her bouquets. "I think there's some udon left in the back fridge, but it's a little hidden--"

"Ohh, that'll be fine," said Ino hurriedly, pushing the pink-haired girl to the counter, "I'm sure forehead-girl can handle the counter for a moment. Come show me where you hid it!" Sakura watched Ino usher Hinata to the back room, leaving her totally alone in the shop. Sighing, she took out a book and a pencil and started scribbling down the late orders Ino had left for her on the counter. She didn't look up as a customer walked through the door, holding a large bouquet of flowers. Sakura continued to take numbers and names until the old lady asked for her help minutes later. Putting the pen down to assist the elderly woman, Sakura's mind wandered to other things.

Since the death of the third Hokage, Ino and Sakura had gotten further and further away from being friends. She didn't know if it was the new rules instated by the fifth Hokage, or if it was the fact that all gennin were being suspended from missions while their jounin instructors took on more important tasks assigned by the Hokage. Without missions, life was more than boring--it was like reading a canned food label, everything was the same and everyone had a boring, normal job to do. Hinata, Sakura, Tenten, and Ino were all working part-time at the flower shop. Their other jobs consisted of delivering mail, being waitresses at various diners, and whatever else their parents could think of to keep them occupied. Sakura wished she knew what kind of missions the jounins were being sent on.

"So, is this a tiger lilly?" Sakura jumped and looked down at the bright yellow blossom in the old woman's hands. "Ah, no, that's a yellow carnation." The woman smiled up at her. "Well, I want you to have it, dear. You look like you could use a little sunshine in your day." Sakura blushed and protested but the older woman wouldn't hear of it, tucking the blossom into Sakura's hair with the elegant hand of a grandmother.

"I-I'm sure that I don't deserve--and I wasn't even paying attention to you ..."

The old woman laughed and waved it off. "Ah, who cares? My dear, when you get to be my age, you learn that the smallest smiles in life can mean more than the most expensive gifts of all. I'd like two of these," she continued, pulling out several purple flowers, "for my grandson. He's got the cutest friend he'd like to give them to ..." Sakura nodded, taking the violets from her dazedly and ringing them up. When the old woman had finally left, Sakura went back to her listing. She wrote down a name when the door opened, the bell attached to the front clinging and she looked up. "Welcome," she said, putting the pen and paper aside again, "what can I help ..." She stopped, looking at the two boys who'd entered and smiled.

"Oh, I just remembered--I saw an order with your name on it a minute ago! I'll be just a second." She rushed off before either boy could greet her, and they shrugged, taking two of the four chairs vacant at the small table on the left of the door. As they sat down, the door opened again to reveal three little boys sporting a small bouquet. They ran up to the counter, ignoring the two teenagers sitting at the table and rang the bell they found there. Hinata rushed out to the counter and blushed as the flowers were pushed up over the counter.

"We're sorry, Hinata-chan!" the three boys chorused, and Hinata might have died from blushing had they not rushed out of the store, beet-red themselves. Hinata noticed the two boys at the chairs and jumped.

"Ah--Neji-kun, Sasuke-kun, h-how n-nice of y-y-you to come here!!!" Seeing how flustered she was, both boys simply nodded and smirked to themselves as she tried to hide the bunches of flowers she'd received that day. Ino came out, swallowing the last of a cup of water, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder and looking around the shop. "Hinata, you haven't helped these two--OH!" As her gaze landed on Sasuke, she flushed and bounced over the counter to attack him. Neji swallowed and felt Ino rushing towards them. Sasuke watched him tense and then flinched as Ino glomped him. Sakura rushed out at the sound of Sasuke's name and then blushed when she saw Ino hugging Sasuke.

"Ino-pig! Stop harassing the customers!!" Ino pouted and put her head on Sasuke's shoulder. "But Sasuke-kun doesn't shop for flowers! And I'm not harassing him, forehead-girl!" Sakura crossed her arms hotly.

"Shows what you know, girlfriend! I just _happen_ to have Sasuke-kun's order right here." She thrust a large vase of white roses out in front of Ino's face and the blonde jumped up to see.

"Oooh, Sasuke-kun, how nice of you to buy flowers for me!" Sakura growled in embarrassment. How dare Ino assume that Sasuke would buy flowers for just her? She wasn't even on his team!

"They're not for you, Ino-pig! They're for Sasuke-kun!"

"No they're not," said Hinata, "Sasuke-kun said he was ordering them for someone el--oh!"

She flushed and Sasuke sent her a terrified look. Sakura and Ino jumped over the counter (after Sakura had set the flowers down, of course) and leered at Hinata with eerie smiles. "Hinata-chaaaaan ..." Hinata blushed. "I-I-I ... I couldn't t-tell! It--it's the customer's right t-to privacy!" Sasuke sighed in relief. He stood to retrieve the flowers from the counter--the sooner he and Neji left, the sooner he could talk to the dark-haired boy alone. Sakura and Ino stopped him, turning from Hinata to the black-haired Uchiha as he approached the flowers.

"Sasuke-kun, who're they for?"

"Sasuke-kun, tell forehead girl that you bought those for me!"

"I-Ino-chan, Sa-Sakura-chan, p-please!"

"Hinata, we have a right to know!"

"For once, forehead girl is right! Who're they for, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke put a hand to his ear. "They're not for either of you," he said shortly, taking the vase in his hands as the door jingled. All motion stopped as the two walked through the door.

"Wow ... look at all the pretty flowers!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. Neji turned, sensing Sasuke tense at the counter, and activated his Byakugan. If it was someone Sasuke was afraid of, it was worth activating the Byakugan for. Sakura and Ino blinked down at the two cute figures that walked into the room. One was blonde with two large white square bandages over his cheeks, though his smile portrayed no pain. The other held his hand, a childish gesture of friendship as he was pulled into the middle of the store by the blonde, who wore a large red hat (santa hat.). The small red head looked around at the flowers, tugging his own, similar hat down further in an adorable movement that suggested he was slightly embarrassed. With the little pointed red caps, the two looked like tiny elves.

"... do you wanna get some?"

"Yeah!!!"

Sasuke's grip on the vase faltered and it slipped from his hands. The two boys jumped and dove under it with incredible speed for boys of their size, each catching one side of the vase in perfect unison. They stood up, pushing the flowers towards Sasuke.

"Here ya go, mister!"

"... be more careful with glass."

Sasuke backed up into the counter, staring down into the white roses that were being offered to him from the small, smiling boys whose faces portrayed no more evil than the flowers they held out. Cautiously, he took the vase from them and walked over to Neji, who stood up. "Sasuke, what is it?" The black-eyed boy threw a glance at the two small boys and shook his head, moving to the door.

"Come on, let's go--we have what we came for ..." Neji turned to the two boys, the blonde jumping around and picking out flowers by the handful, and the red head who was watching in something like warm contempt, and frowned. He looked up at Sasuke, and gave him a smile of his own.

"Let's stay," he said, surprising the black-haired Uchiha, "I like the way it smells in here, and besides, I have to guess who you're giving those roses to." Sasuke colored only briefly but sat down, keeping his eyes on the red head in the middle of the room.

"Oh, how kawaii!" Sakura walked over to the small boy (Gaara, if you haven't figured it out by now) and knelt down to his eye-level. "Hi, there, cutie-pie! What's your name?" Gaara blinked in surprise, tearing his gaze form the blonde, who was laughing and carrying a huge armful of assorted blossoms to the counter. "... my name ..."

'_Name, name, name--'_

_/You're Gaara-chan./_

_**/You tell them that--/**_

'_**--and you might as well take off your hat and bandages and go back to your own ages.'**_

_/Ah--ok, new name for Gaa-chan .../_

"Shuu-chan!"

Naruto bounced on his feet, jumping up to the counter and depositing all the flowers at once before turning back around to face Gaara and Sakura, who'd turned around. "Hm?"

"Suki want flowers." Shuu-chan/Gaara nodded and looked at Sakura. "How much're all those?" he asked, gesturing to the small field on the countertop. Sakura jumped up and Hinata volunteered to help her ring the flowers up. Ino looked over at Sasuke. "Heeeeyy, Sasuke-ku--" she stopped, noticing the dark scowl directed at the blonde boy, who was happily laughing as Shuu pulled out a small bag of coins and bills. "... Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke continued to stare intently at the blonde. Neji frowned. "Sasuke?"

Words didn't seem to reach him. Neji shut his eyes. '_Stupid_ ...' He put his chin on his palm, his elbow resting on the table and he called out in a monotone, "Oi, Sasuke, Itachi wants to know my phone number."

"**WHAT**?!" '_**That** worked.'_

Neji waved a hand. "Well, finally. Welcome back to reality, sir 'I-need-to-stare-at-innocent-little-boys-that-I-don't-even-know.' What's got you so uptight?" Sasuke caught himself as his mouth opened to say the blonde's real name. He'd been sworn to secrecy by and with the Hokage. As much as he disliked her, he couldn't even think about going against her and telling even Neji, who he was sure wouldn't tell a soul. Shutting his mouth again, he leaned back in his chair.

"Nothing. I'm just not fond of blondes ..."

Neji frowned and then smiled at the little boys. "Well, I think you're being stubborn. They're both cute, and you have no right to glare at them. They're just kids, Sasuke ..." Sasuke shook his head as Shuu and Suki gathered the large bags of flowers in their arms, heading towards the door. Suki stopped and turned to face Sasuke, staring him down with bright blue orbs.

"Wanna come play with us?"

Neji frowned. Somehow, that statement--and those bright blue eyes--were unnervingly familiar. Sasuke froze under the gaze, and for some reason he found himself unable to tear away. A voice registered in the back of his mind but blue shifted to purple and blood poured over the orbs, mocking his own blood-red eyes as they blinked up at him from the innocent body of a child.

"... _asuke_ ..."

That voice ... so familiar, and so far away, now seemed so close--why was he remembering the voice now?

"... _sasuke, wait up_ ..."

The small, insistent voice that had become his own when the blonde had disappeared from his life, when Itachi had become his mentor--

"Sasuke? Sasuke, what's wrong with you?"

He jerked away from the touch, the red head catching the vase as it fell from Sasuke's grasp once again. "You gotta be careful with glass," said Shuu in a slightly irritated voice, "you don't wanna get cut." _'You don't want to cut Naruto. It'll be the last thing you do.'_ Sasuke nodded, taking the vase from the small boy again, backing up into Neji. The white-eyed boy frowned. He'd never seen Sasuke so jumpy before--and suddenly, Sasuke was dragging him out of the store, and they were three blocks gone before Neji jerked away from Sasuke's iron-grip. "Sasuke! What's wrong with you--you're overreacting--they're just kids--"

"_They're not kids_--" Sasuke froze as Neji's eyes widened. Neither boy moved. It might have been an odd sight, the dark-haired Hyuuga with wide, white eyes, a burning circle in the center of his eyes, and the last Uchiha holding a large vase of white roses in one hand, the other clenched in a fist.

"Sasuke?"

"... at your house."

Both boys walked along the street towards the Hyuuga estate, a stiff tension drifting between them.

Back at the flower shop, Hinata and Ino had found the two boys so adorable that they couldn't bear to let them attempt to carry such huge bags of flowers all by themselves. After obtaining their destination, Ino pronounced that she and Hinata would help them carry the flowers. With Sakura left to guard the store, they set off to Tenmari's house. Ino and Hinata talked, carrying three of five bags as they accompanied the two boys down the street. They were two blocks away when Hinata spotted a small dog darting out of an alley, yipping excitedly. She blushed as Kiba followed, along with Shikamaru and Shino.

"Heeeey, Hinata-cha--"

Kiba and Shikamaru froze upon seeing the two boys carrying bags of flowers. Ino and Hinata blinked as Shino's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. Shikamaru laughed, trying to shake off the fear that had suddenly welled up in him at the sight of the two demons. "H-Hi, Ino." She frowned and crossed her arms. "Honestly, Nara, is that the best greeting a girl can expect? It's no wonder Chouji-kun hangs out with you so much, with the kind of greetings you give." Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets, and Kiba picked Akamaru up off the ground. They nervously kept silent for a while before Shino spoke up. "Who're your friends?" Hinata smiled brightly.

"T-This is Shuu-kun, and Suki-kun. They're visiting for a while. T-They'll be s-staying at Tenmari-san's place." Shino nodded. Shikamaru and Kiba threw glances at each other. "Well, it looks like these two could use a hand--we'll carry some of that for you." Shikamaru grabbed a bag from Ino and Kiba from Hinata, both girls blushing and turning to glance in turn at the other girl before giggling and blushing as the two boys slung the bags of plants over their shoulders.

"You guys are so sweet! But really, Kiba, Shika, we can carry this stuff." Ino tried to take the bag back from Shikamaru, but the older boy simply dodged her hand and poked her forehead, looking lazily into her eyes.

"We'll take you to Tenmari's. We don't have much else to do, anyway."

Shino nodded, relieving Suki and Shuu of their loads. The two little boys were ecstatic, Suki jumping onto Shuu's shoulders and the red headed boy balancing the shorter as he walked forwards, carrying both of their weight gracefully.

Ino and Hinata giggled and swooned over the two little boys, overlooking Shikamaru and Kiba, who kept their eyes trained on the boys with a more cautious gaze. Suki jumped off Shuu's shoulders, emitting a little blast of chakara in the process, and Shuu smacked him on the head for using his chakara, and insisted on giving the other boy a piggy-back-ride the rest of the way.

Shino said nothing but quietly noticed everything.

When they arrived at the house, Tenmari quickly caught onto the new names Naruto and Gaara had taken to and kept their cover. Shikamaru and Kiba stood next to Shino, trying to look as normal as possible with an unhealthy amount of fear sitting in their guts. How could one not be afraid, standing casually next to a boy a quarter of your height and a hundred times your strength?

"Oh, are you sure you don't want to stay for lunch?" Ino smiled and shook her head as she grabbed Hinata and Kiba by the arms and dragged them towards the front of the house. "Nah, but thanks, Tenmari-chan! Shika-kun here owes us all a good hot meal!" Shikamaru frowned and put his hand behind his head. "Since when?" Ino pulled him over and put her lips against his ear, "since you really don't like being around those little kids. You think me and Hinata-chan can't feel the tension you and Kiba were giving off?" Shikamaru swallowed and nodded, a little stunned that the kunoichi could read him so easily. He had also frozen when her lips had touched his skin. Unwanted contact had frozen him in his thoughts. Shikamaru shoved Ino off his shoulder and said good bye to Tenmari, Hinata and Ino taking Shino, not looking back into the house. Once they were far enough away, he stopped and insisted they invite Chouji along as well. Kiba teased that he'd be out of house and home for the offer, however, it was a price Shikamaru would be willing to pay if only the other boy were there for him.

Tenmari turned to the two boys. "Well, you sure brought home the show. Why'd you get all the flowers?" Gaara took out a few roses, sand coating the thorns and stripping them from the stem, and the blossom was offered to the taller girl. "Because they're pretty--and we wanna have a garden." Tenmari blinked in contemplation, and then smiled.

"All right! We can start transferring them to the back yard after lunch. Since you two are such great celebrities, you should go out again. I've never had that many people come to my house at once! It'd be nice to have company like that again, even if only to chat and drop you two off ..." She trailed off and then looked down at the two boys.

"Well? Want to go eat out?" Gaara looked at Naruto, then back at Tenmari.

"Where's the nearest ramen stand?"

..oo00oo..

Inside two very similar minds, the demon of sand and the nine-tailed fox stirred restlessly.

_**/It's coming./**_

'**_Of course.'_** The badger turned its gaze, through his container's eyes, onto the other demon. **_'... we will tell them.'_**

'**_You were the one who wanted to make sure they knew, were you not?'_** growled the badger suddenly, **_'you were the one who insisted that there was no way to avoid this?! You will not fail yourself now.'_**

The Kyuubi, a little surprised by Shukaku's mental fierceness, looked up at him mildly. The ferocity of the other demon was probably born of the same fear that had consumed it before, and that fear had finally leaked itself into the Kyuubi itself. It had begun to doubt itself and its decision to tell its container about the Dawn and the other things, however, it was becoming increasingly evident that they would have to reveal their secrets soon enough--they were nearly of age, and there couldn't be a time more ripe than the present day, and in the children's present mindset. With this in mind, Kyuubi rose a lazy eye at the nervous demon and sent an agreement along their private link.

Their hosts would know of their fate before the new day made itself present, and also, the things that would be gained and those, for better or for worse, which would be lost forever.

..oo00oo..

Jun was cleaning the counter with a rag, scrubbing away at the mess one unsatisfied customer had left, when two heads poked up over the same counter with innocent interest. "Hey," piped the blonde, "can we have some ramen please?" Jun found some familiarity in the voice and the hair that he could see poking out from under the funny red santa hat that sat atop the head, but he brushed it off and nodded, smiling for his customer. "Sure boys; what kind can I get you?" The red head spoke up first, softly, tugging his own hat down over his hair as if he was embarrassed by its loud, red color.

"I want miso."

"I want chicken and shrimp!" Jun grinned and looked at the two over the counter as the blonde grinned back at him.

"Ho ho--that's a lot of ramen for one little boy," teased Jun even as he turned from the counter to get the two orders started, "I doubt you'll be able to eat it all."

Suki just nodded with a huge grin, and Jun sighed, turning back to the ramen that had begun to boil. He waited a few more minutes and then fished up the boys' orders and slid them across the counter. Their eyes lit up, even the quiet, red-haired boy, and the chopsticks in their hands dove in, despite Jun's warning that it was still boiling hot. Suki inhaled the noodles like air, and Shuu neatly slurped all his soup away, and then proceeded to follow his friend's example. To Jun's surprise, both boys finished almost instantly after that, and, standing on their stools to visibly bow and say 'thanks!' at the same time, they turned and bounded down the street, laughing as Jun jumped and shouted after them. "Hey!!!" He moved around the counter to chase after the two thieves but stopped when he noticed the small pile of silver coins that had been deposited on each stool. His eyes widened and he forgot about chasing the two as his eyes calculated the amount they'd paid. Enough for themselves ... and enough for the last customer, who hadn't paid. A girl ran out from the deeper part of the ramen shop, holding a large stack of bowls. "Hey, dad, what do you want me to ... dad?" The blue-eyed girl peered at her father who was chuckling to himself on the ground, holding a small fortune in 1000 ¥ pieces. She gasped. "Dad! Where'd you get all that money?!" Jun smiled up at his daughter with something back in his smile that she hadn't seen since the days of her childhood.

"From an old customer. Let's get those unloaded ..."

..oo00oo..

Kakashi looked over his shoulder at the door. He put down his chopsticks and got up. If it had been an urgent message, it'd have been delivered by ANBU, who never knocked, or a bird. It was probably either Iruka or Gai, and judging on the fact that there was another moment of silence before another knock, Kakashi leaned towards the former--Gai would have been singing oaths of beating him by now. Sighing, he took the door handle and turned the handle, smiling at the person on the other side of the door.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while ..."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

The shorter man looked slightly confused. "Are you drunk?"

Kakashi shook his head brightly. "Haven't been drunk for twenty years."

Black eyes held some amusement, as well as sorrow. "Which means you've been sober for some time."

Kakashi actually opened his eye, and smiled. "You're not an illusion, are you?"

Itachi nodded. "Bite me; I bleed."

Kakashi shut the door behind him and walked back over to his food. Clearly, he was used to hallucinating, and thought the man he was seeing now was simply another hallucination. Itachi couldn't let him have the luxury of that ignorance--it hurt too much, after all this time, to simply be ignored.

He slid silently over to the table and incinerated Kakashi's bowl of rice.

With a start, Kakashi was flipped over onto his own table, Itachi leaning over him, pinning his arms at his side and running a hand over Kakashi's cheek. The silver-haired man froze and stared up into Itachi's dark black eyes with disbelief.

"You ..." Itachi ran a hand over one of the pinned arms, tracing the scar of his name that he found there.

"Does this change anything?" Kakashi looked up into the other boy's eyes. "Wha ..."

Itachi rose an eyebrow. "You haven't gotten yourself horribly drunk, or run off with someone else, have you?" Kakashi almost laughed. However, a tall, dark, sexy Uchiha hovering over his chest holding him down to his table sort of ruined the effect it would have on the mood, and Kakashi settled instead for finishing his question. "What do you mean?" Itachi looked into Kakashi's eyes.

"Is anything really different between us?"

"... I don't know." The black eyes, so well-trained in concealing every bit of Itachi's emotion, flickered. Itachi's grip faltered and he slowly slid away. The pale fingers traced along his skin, just as he had before he disappeared from the silver-haired man's life. Kakashi, caught by a horrible wrenching feeling in his chest, was over come by the idea that he'd said the wrong thing, and jumped to grab Itachi's wrists at the last moment. Surprised, the Uchiha stared down at the older man.

"I wasn't done with that rice ..."

"... so?"

Kakashi looked up at him before grinning and making a lame suggestion.

"... you could stay for a while and make me more?"

Itachi made a face. "I don't cook. If you want a girlfriend so bad, go see Iruka--"

Kakashi laughed and the older Uchiha frowned, for a moment resembling Sasuke in his confusion. The confusion cleared as a gloved hand tugged the mask away, and was replaced with something unreadable as the older man leaned in to close the space between their lips. Itachi let Kakashi kiss him, familiar lips claiming his own once again, a feeling he was sure that he'd only ever experience again in rare and distant dreams. The same gloved hand moved up to brush long, black bangs away from their faces and smooth, pale fingers curled around the glove, stopping its progress and pulling it away from their faces and towards his hips.

With a gentle tug, Itachi got Kakashi's arms around him once again and he pulled out of the kiss, leaning his head on the other man's shoulder. Kakashi's arms tightened around him and for a moment, Itachi felt younger. Free to feel emotions, even if only for a while, he reveled in the experience, letting the older man clutch their bodies together desperately. Now fully standing, Kakashi was considerably tall, and Itachi's head only reached his cheek, however this didn't matter to either man as, together, they reveled in the other's presence. Something ... felt _right_ again.

Itachi felt something hot slide down his cheek, and Kakashi's surprised jump as the droplet splashed onto the bare skin of his neck. Itachi started when a warm tongue slid up the tiny trail on his cheek, ending with a warm pair of lips that fell upon the eye which was still watery.

And Itachi looked up at Kakashi, feeling sixteen again, and smiled.

..oo00oo..

"Haa!!!" One.

It wasn't fair. She was just as good as her sister--she was _better_ than her sister. And still, she was second in line for the Hyuuga estate.

"Hiiiiyaaa!!!" Two.

What was so special about that stupid, shy, weak girl? She wasn't even pretty--she kept her stupid purple hair cut short to the length it could get in her eyes. What foolishness!!!

"Haa!!" One, two.

_She_ didn't train every day, _she_ didn't spend five hours reading the scripts, _she_ didn't pay her respects to the elders and ancestors every morning, noon, and eve. Heck, she probably didn't even know where the tombs of their elders were!!!

"Hiiiiyaaa!!!" One.

It wasn't fair. She deserved to be first in line. She worked hard. She was just a few years younger. She was just as good, possibly better. Probably better. Totally better. It just ... infuriated her to the last cell of her body.

"Haa!!!" Two.

The wood shuddered and she pulled her fist back, ignoring the red knuckles and tears that weren't supposed to be running down her cheeks. It didn't matter. All she could do was train.

"Hiiiyaaa!!!" One, two, three--**BAM!!!**

Hanabi Hyuuga gasped as the tree she'd been training with snapped, falling straight for her. She prepared to escape sideways when her pant leg tore and became tangled in a branch. Pulling a kunai from her weapons pouch, she sliced through the material, and she jerked her head up to stare the giant wooden figure now inches from her head. She bit back a scream and made a desperate dive to the left, crashing into something soft and warm. She froze, and frowned. These were legs. They were boy's legs. Her legs--her pant leg--snagged on a branch--the tree--but ... there had been no crash. Looking up, she saw the boy staring down at her while effortlessly holding the giant wooden trunk over them both.

Her mouth fell open slightly and the boy tossed the trunk to the side, smiling and jumping off the ground before it hit, shaking the forest floor for a moment and then he jumped away from her, bright eyes searching for another figure perched in the branches of a nearby tree. The other figure was another boy, and Hanabi jumped up in fury. WHY? Why were boys always stronger than girls? And these were tiny boys--toddlers!

"Hey! It's not good manners to leave a girl alone in the forest!" The two boys turned back to Hanabi and frowned. "Ok. Wanna come with us?"

Hanabi growled and dropped into a fighting stance. "What's you're names?"

"I'm Suki and this is Shuu-chan. We're just lookin' around." Hanabi frowned. "This is private property! Get lost!" Without giving them a chance to comply, Hanabi lunged at the two boys. Suki(Naruto) jumped out of the way and Shuu caught her arm, stuck out his leg, and let her fall onto the grass. She gasped as she slammed into the ground on her back and gritted her teeth. "Wh-what the ... b-boys y-your age are ... supposed to be weak!" Suki frowned. "So you're gonna be mean and beat up little cute, defenseless boys?"

Shuu gave him a disbelieving glance that Hanabi missed as she helped herself to her feet and dropped back into her fighting stance.

"So? You're still boys, and if I can beat you, I'll prove that girls can be better than boys." She shot at Suki again, not waiting for his response and was once again on her back. Groaning, she rolled over and flung two kunai at Shuu, who caught them with a frown.

"Kunai aren't for throwing," he said with some disappointment, "they're for stabbing and severing. Use shuriken--they fast and smaller."

Hanabi flushed. "I don't need help from a BOY!"

Suki caught her wrist as she tried to punch his face and Shuu caught the other wrist, and they calmly dragged her through the forest until they reached the Hyuuga manor. There they let her go with some giggles as they looked around the huge manor. Hanabi was furious. Never before had any boy _dared_ to do what they'd done. Wiping the tears and dirt from her face, she thrust a finger at Shuu and Suki. "I challenge you two to a fight! Two on one, I'll take ya both! Come on!" Shuu shook his head. Suki smiled. "Oh, Shuu-chan, she's funny! Kaa-san says we should go back home now." The red head nodded. "All right." Hanabi stepped in front of the two boys. "If you wanna go home, you'll have to go through me!" Shuu's eye twitched. This girl was getting annoying. He rose a pale hand and waved it at her and she was tossed to the side by the wind. Amazed and embarrassed at being moved by just the wind, she flung herself at the red head. The blonde grinned and clapped once and she was thrown away from the small boys and landed against the wooden floor of the house that ran along the outside, skidding into the wall and yelping as her other pant leg was shredded off by the contact against the wood. There was some scrambling from inside as Hanabi threw herself back at the two boys and the door slid open just as she lunged at Suki's much smaller body.

"**Hanabi**!"

The commanding voice that shot through her ears shattered Hanabi's rage and she stopped feet in front of the two, whirling around and bowing deeply to the displeased face of her father.

"Honored father ..."

(_A/N: I am **SO** not dealing with family issues anymore--Hiashi is for all purposes the father of Hanabi, Hinata, and Neji will address him as such. End of discussion. Do not argue. I will not be swayed. Tis too troublesome. to even bother with -_)

Hiashi's arms crossed over his chest.

"Hanabi, I don't recall you inviting these two boys into the house. No, don't speak," he commanded as he walked out of the house and up to the place the three children stood, "I will hear first from the two little ones. Who are you?" The blonde rose his hand.

"I'm Suki, and this is Shuu-chan!" Hiashi narrowed his eyes. It was probably just his imagination, but the 'Shuu-chan' reminded him of someone ... Shaking his head, Hiashi addressed the boys again, though with some humor in his tone. "What are you two doing on this estate? It's not often that Hanabi finds intruders your age." Suki giggled.

"Well, she--" pointed to Hanabi, who flushed, "--was knocking down a tree and got stuck. I stopped it from fallin' on her, and then she tried to hit us. We were just lookin' around 'cauz this place has real good places to play hide-an'-seek!" Hiashi frowned. The forest was laden with death traps and many illusions. It was _designed_ to destroy anything, even animals, coming towards the house. He made a note to himself to have all the traps checked--obviously, if these two boys could get through, they weren't functioning correctly.

There was a soft padding of feet behind him and he turned to glance at the approaching boys as Neji and Sasuke skidded to a halt just before the wood floor stopped. Sasuke's eyes widened and Neji smiled at the small boys before his younger cousin. _'It's those two again--Suki and Shuu--'_

"Shit ..." Neji could feel Sasuke tense beside him and the blank-eyed boy mechanically grabbed Sasuke's arm and held him back, eyes casting their empty stare upon the invisible ground. Hiashi sent the two a curious glance and Neji felt the man's gaze upon him, and looked up.

"Father--we were just coming because we heard a disturbance ... we didn't know that Shuu-kun and Suki-kun had been invited over ..." Hiashi crossed his arms over his chest again, a questioning gaze landing on Neji. "I heard that they weren't invited in--how is it that you know their names?" The black-haied Uchiha bit his lip. Sasuke wouldn't unglue his mouth; he knew that if he even answered a small question like this, he'd let something slip. Neji answered for him. "We met them just a while ago--they were buying flowers from Ino-san's store. Sasuke-kun took me away before we could discover any of their other businesses." Hiashi nodded, seeming to accept that answer as a truthful one, and turned back to Hanabi.

"So, Hanabi, what is this I'm hearing about you knocking down trees?" The girl flinched and lowered her eyes to the floor, trying to hide her embarrassment; Hiashi would not let her wallow in such emotions for too long-- "Hanabi, you will tell me what you were doing this instant." Hanabi allowed herself to look up and retell the account exactly as it had happened--the tree falling, her trying and failing to escape its projected path, Suki's saving her, Shuu's appearance, and how the two boys ultimately came with her to the house. Hiashi seemed pleased with the explanation and gave her a stern look. "You will meet with me later."

Hanabi bowed; she would take the appropriate punishment, and then double her training schedule. Her scowl increased and then disappeared as she faced her father again.

"Yes, sir."

She was dismissed, and disappeared into the house. Hiashi turned back to the two boys, who had lost interest in the taller man, and had sat on the ground, contentedly making tiny bracelets and necklaces of simple grass blades and twigs. As impressed as Hiashi was with their craft, he interrupted their fun with the clearing of his throat, demanding their attention. The two boys looked up as Neji and Sasuke let go of each other, each trusting the other wouldn't do anything rash while unrestrained. Hiashi, deciding that he could at least invite the two inside to show off the Hyuuga hospitality, sighed and smiled at the two.

"You two are welcome to clean up inside. You must be a little tired from walking around in the forest." Sasuke's eyes widened. Neji smiled. Suki and Shuu argued mentally for a moment before yawning and smiling up at Hiashi thankfully. "Ok," Suki mumbled, jumping to his feet and staggering towards Hiashi who smiled and held out a hand to assist the smaller boy. He turned to Sasuke and Neji with the small blonde in his arms. "Neji, Sasuke-kun, help our other guest to a room and get him cleaned up. I'll see you inside."

He took Suki away into the house before Sasuke followed him, leaving Neji alone with Shuu, who looked up at Neji with a sort of sad smile. Neji, of course, didn't see it, but cautiously activated his Byakugan. The little boy in front of him appeared a normal blur of green and Neji smiled with more confidence as he held out his arms. Suddenly, the blob of green leapt at him and jumped into his arms, surprising Neji as his neck was encircled by the smaller boy's arms. "... Shuu-kun?" The little boy made a sound that was sort of a laugh and sort of not, and then asked to be taken inside. Curiously, Neji obeyed and took the smaller boy into the house. Shuu demanded to be taken to a certain door, and suddenly Neji found himself outside on the roof of the house. "Shuu, be careful and hold my hand. I shouldn't be up here without ..." Suddenly, the little boy leapt from his arms and Neji gasped and was shoved over the edge of the house as his Byakugan deactivated from lack of chakara. He shouted and fell through the air as a door slid open and a figure rushed outside, and with a great thud, he landed smack on a certain black-haired Uchiha.

'**_Alright--that's enough fun for today. Find Naruto and let's go back to that girl's house.' _**Gaara nearly jumped at the sound of the demon speaking in the back of his mind. For some reason, that had been happening less and less lately, and a small smile spread from the corner of Gaara's lips.

'_That girl's my sister.'_

Shuu disappeared from the roof as Neji shook his head and got off Sasuke's chest.

"Ohh ..." The boy beneath Neji groaned and put a hand behind his head. "I think you broke my neck."

Neji laughed nervously, sitting up and poking Sasuke's face. "Well, it's your fault for being underneath me." Sasuke frowned, and Neji smiled softly. "But thanks for being there."

Neji smiled at him, and Sasuke frowned, but then something struck him. He wasn't sure what, but something between the other boy suddenly became clear. He felt something over come him, his senses completely indifferent to anything other than the one rush of emotion that swelled in him now, and as Sasuke looked up at Neji, for a moment, he saw the smile that was directed at him, the smile that Neji showed only him. He realized that the funny feeling in his gut was his subconscious trying to tell him that he wanted that smile by his side--that he wanted Neji by his side, giving him that apologetic, calm, bright smile, forever--screw whatever other things were going on. The demons in town, the chuunin exams that would have to wait another few years, even with the knowledge that his brother was in town ... everything became secondary to the realization that what he was about to do felt totally natural and right.

And it was with this in mind that Sasuke leaned up to Neji's smile and caught the surprised lips in a gentle kiss.

..oo00oo..

Neji froze. The warm pair of lips against his slowly drew away, and a voice called out to him. "Neji ..." A hand rose up to his face, and Neji suddenly stopped it with his own, catching the other boy's wrist with a steady hand. Black eyes flashed white and the dark ring re-appeared in the center of Neji's eyes, an eerie vibe jolting down Sasuke's spine. And he looked into the white eyes, and read.

Confusion. Fear. Wonder. So many things ran through those white eyes, emotions that Sasuke had never caused before, and something in him trembled as the once steady grip around his hand began to tremble with the same uncertainty.

"Neji--" The black haired Hyuuga shook his head. Sasuke bit his tongue, and Neji, still stradling Sasuke's waist, slowly moved off the other boy's body. "Sasuke, I-I--" He broke off, looking at the ground with some terrible discision to make. "I don't know ..." Sasuke shook his head.

"Neji--"

"**No**!"

The Uchiha blinked in surprise at the outburst, and Neji fiercly held his gaze to the ground. "No... I mean, no, I don't--I don't want to hear anything right now ... I ... I have to think ..." Shaking, Neji got to his feet, and staggered towards the house.

"Neji ..."

The voice that called him wasn't pleading, or begging, or stern, or sad. It was just Sasuke's voice. Neji stopped and turned to face the teenager who still sat on the ground, hands on his knees and gaze cast on the other boy's figure; an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'll be waiting."

Neji turned away and walked to the door, turning back to face Sasuke one more time.

"I know."

The door shut, and Sasuke looked up at the sky. It was raining.

..oo00oo..

Hours later, Suki and Shuu found Tenmari already asleep at her apartment. They slid past her room and into their own. There, they proceeded to turn to each other for a very serious conversation. Naruto looked over at his best friend in the whole world and instantly knew there was something bugging him. His usually dark eyes were troubled and shaded because he was trying to hide it from the blonde--however, years of practice had taught not only Sasuke to read eyes but also Naruto, and the small boy to his friend with an exercised amount of concern.

"What's wrong?"

"It's ..." Naruto looked over at the red head and rolled over on his stomach. "I won't laugh. Promise." Gaara felt grateful for a moment and then looked over at Naruto. "I'm not worried about that ..."

"... but why did we come here?"

Naruto paused. He didn't know. Why had they chosen this place to come back to, of all the places to go? Konoha was by no means beautiful, but it was also by no means an ugly place, either. Naruto looked at the ceiling, and then turned to Gaara.

"I guess ... I guess it's cauz' I wanted to see them. I wanted to see the people here like I see the people in Snow and Mist and Sand ... I just wanted to see everyone." Then he added, as an after thought, "and Iruka. He was nice." Gaara looked over at him.

"... will we go back?"

"With Itachi-nii."

"Where is he?"

"... I think he's with the pervert-guy Iruka talked about." Gaara nodded knowingly, not a clue who he meant. Naruto saw through Gaara's attempt to make it look like he knew what Naruto was talking about, and he sent Gaara a mental image. If Gaara had hackles, they would have stood on end. "I. Don't. Like. Him." the boy ground out through grit teeth, and Naruto nodded. "Ok. But I think Itachi-nii does." Gaara's anger swayed a little, but Naruto moved off the topic.

"We'll go back to those Akatsuki people ... for Haku-chan."

Gaara's eyes narrowed as Naruto dove into a temporary depression and he growled, "We'll make them sorry." He slid an arm around the blonde comfortingly and Naruto nodded into his chest.

"O-ok."

"I'll never let them do that to you."

For a moment, they didn't say anything, the unspoken thank you drifted between them as the physical contact told each other all they needed to know.

"How?"

"Training. This will be the last vacation we can take," replied the blue-eyed boy with some regret in his voice, "I don't think the people here like us, anyway. Sasuke didn't." There was a hint of disappointment in Naruto's voice. Gaara frowned.

"Hn. That man didn't like me either--he talked nice, but his eyes were mean ..."

**_/You reminded him of yourself,/_** suggested Kyuubi from Naruto's mind.

Gaara frowned. '_Why are you being so quiet lately? All you two do is give us suggestions and never talk anymore.'_ Kyuubi growled to itself for seeming so obviously suspicious, and it heard Shukaku doing the same. Getting to its paws, Kyuubi addressed the two boys directly.

_**/Listen up, kit, brat. I have something to say. Me and madame sand-for-tails over there might not be around long./ **_

Naruto's jaw dropped. Gaara felt the thought of loss go through him like a cold blade.

'_Wha ... what do you mean?' _The Kyuubi sighed, preparing itself for what could be the most it'd ever told either boy ever before.

_**/You will both live to an age that surpasses those you know now. In fact, you may live as long as I have already. However, there are things that can derail you from life, like fights and poison, and other forms of premature death. But what I want to tell you skips all that./**_

_**/Because of the damn seal on you, we can't stop it. On the midnight stroke of your eighteenth birthdays, you and I will merge, just as Shukaku and Gaara will./**_

Naruto fell to his knees on the bed. Gaara couldn't move, his eyes frozen wide with shock. What was _this_? They had never been told that they were going to be MERGED with the two demons!! **_/You weren't ready to hear until now./ _**

'**_Would you have really believed us if we'd told you any earlier?' _**Both boys shook their heads numbly, and the Kyuubi rustled its fur. **_/Sorry to dump this on you two right now, but seeing as you're both almost of age, we'd thought we'd tell you now, since you bring it up, instead of three days before./_** Gaara snorted, and then his eyes twitched, and a tear spilled out over his cheek.

It was surprising--startling--how their thoughts progressed. First, of fear for losing the two who'd been with them so long. Then, of getting over their own shock. Third, how to utilize the time left with the demons wisely.

"W-we ... we're gonna be demons for real, Gaa-chan," whispered Naruto. Gaara just looked across the bed helplessly at his friend as Naruto pulled his knees to his chest and shook. The Kyuubi grinned. **_/Sorry kit. Should'a told you sooner./ _**The fox felt a pang of regret, for the first time in a while, for the boy, and was somewhat surprised when Naruto looked up at Gaara with a smile. "That's ok. I was just... scared. I don't wanna lose our 'kaa-san." Gaara blinked away the tear and made a noise of assessment and the Kyuubi barked a laugh. **_/It's not going to be that way. We won't actually disappear, like you'd think./ _**Naruto sniffed, looking up at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?"

'**_We'd still be part of your subconscious, only we won't be able to speak with you except through dreams. The merging will push our powers together, and it will be extremely painful; afterwards there won't be anything you can't accomplish.'_** Gaara looked at Naruto.

"I'm ... I'm ok with that."

"Yeah, me too ... it's just a little surprising ... I suppose we shoulda expected--expected somethin' like this to happen," mumbled Naruto through the last of his tears as he wiped his nose and offered the other boy a smile. "At least we still got a year."

There was a silence where both boys gathered their thoughts.

"Should we leave in the morning?"

"Before sunrise."

Both boys looked at each other. That meant leaving as soon as possible--it was nearly an hour to midnight now. "I wanna say bye to Tenmari-chan," said Naruto as Gaara pushed the covers off and slid his clothes on, and taking out a piece of parchment and a pen.

"Let's write her a letter."

Both boys leaned over the paper and wrote onto the other side, and they folded it up, looking around to make sure they had the rest of their things; mainly themselves and their clothes and the few flowers that Tenmari hadn't gotten around to planting during the day. They crept past Tenmari's room, sliding the note underneath the door and Naruto paused briefly to lay a hand on the door with a smile that lit the dark hall. "Good bye," he whispered as Gaara did the same, and then both boys were gone from the apartment.

They appeared, within the same instant, on top of Tsunade's office. They sat on the roof, sighing and staring out onto the darkness that would soon reveal a new Konoha, refreshed and ready for another day.

However, it would be a demon-free day.

Naruto and Gaara were leaving now, and as soon as they said their good-byes to the Hokage, they would find Itachi and leave to train. They had little less than a year till their next birthdays, and in that time they had certain expectations to meet and exceed--for example, the demon's strength required their physical bodies to be a little more advanced than they were now, and it took Gaara's careful planning to piece together a training schedule that would totally prepare them for the shock of merging with their demons. But this wasn't the time or place to be discussing such things--the two boys were more worried about themselves on an emotional level.

What kind of impression did they want to leave? One of peace, understanding, or one that foreshadowed their future course of action ...

Silently, they battled, wit against idea, pure intent against the darkness that it was slowly becoming more and more aware of. In the end, nothing or no one prevailed, and Naruto looked across the roof at the other boy, who was having a similar struggle.

"Gaara."

The name seemed to be a sweep towards the boy's internal victory, and Gaara looked up with a somewhat tired gaze.

"Naruto."

For another moment, both boys simply reveled in the peace of the night, in the silence that they could keep each other's company, and in the feelings they knew only they would ever be able to share and understand. And then their eyes shut, and they stepped into the office.

..oo00oo..

Tsunade nearly choked on her tea.

Currently, however, it wasn't so much the fact that two people had appeared without any swirl of leaves or puff of smoke or any other normal accompaniment that usually came with a sudden appearance, or even the two people that had arrived, at their _correct_ ages and physical bodies, but the malicious intent behind their eyes which shocked her out of her reserve. (-- what a long sentence ...) Quickly regaining her posture, she brushed back her bangs and looked up at the two men before her with a new and slightly flustered visage.

"N-Naruto, Gaara, what a pleasant and unexpected surprise--I mean, how nice of you to visit me! I was sort of getting lonely, I mean, I suppose I didn't expect to see either of you ... quite so ... soon ..."

She slowed down, having began her speech talking a mile a minute; however, as she progressed in her thoughts, she noticed the lazy posture that Gaara and Naruto had assumed, the former crossing his arms over his chest and the latter folding his arms over the single chair that sat before her, and she realized that they weren't here for a purely pleasurable visit--in fact, their eyes hinted towards a situation far opposite of that. She looked Naruto in the eyes, fear forming in the back of her mind while she kept her cool visibly.

"... you're not here just for tea and cookies, then, are you?"

Naruto nodded. Tsunade felt a shudder run down her spine. There was a terrible presence over Naruto's face, and it reminded her of the demon that was sleeping somewhere deep within the boy's conscious.

"Gomen, ne. We just decided we're going."

Tsunade's eyes widened--in relief and surprise--and she nodded.

"You know, you were so insistent that we weren't welcome that, after today, it would be rude to abuse our welcome here."

The sarcasm in his voice wasn't blunt and rough, but hidden and almost amused, and for a moment, Tsunade seriously doubted that Naruto was the one in control as she stared up seriously into the dark purple orbs.

"We had a serious discussion with two of our closest friends," said Gaara softly, a hint of amusement in his own voice, "and decided that it would be best to leave Konoha." Naruto's grin grew as Tsunade sighed in relief and slumped back in her chair.

"Well," he said, taking the still body of the boy and chucking it at her lap, "at least not when we're wanted criminals."

The building erupted in flame.

The few ANBU in the hallway directly in front of the Hokage's office were unlucky enough to be in the fire's direct path. The flesh and muscle burned right off their bones, and then their bones melted away. Tsunade couldn't move. The grin on Naruto's face only grew as the fire flared and licked hungrily at the walls, the once so strong cement and wood screaming and crumbling under the fire's flickering tongue. Gaara's sand formed two small orbs at his side and he concentrated for only a moment; and two miniature creatures formed, a gray badger with two tails and a dark brown dragon with black paws and two sets of hind legs. The badger's eyes were a bright neon green/yellow, and its barred fangs resembled jagged shark's teeth. The dragon's dark brown scales reflected the firelight as it flickered. Its back was lined with extruding white spikes which contrasted with its dark black paws. The two cackled and leapt forward, Tsunade barely registering the bright yellow star on their backs as they leapt to meet the few remaining staff and tore them to shreds with claws, fangs, and then fed upon them with an unending thirst for blood. Gaara and Naruto stood, impassive, watching the flames crackle around them, and listening impassionately to the occasional scream from the left and right as an arm was torn from a chuunin or jounin and drained of the pure, red fluids that dribbled from the limb. With a purely amused smile, Naruto turned and waved at Tsunade. He then disappeared, Gaara gone with him. And Tsunade felt a pair of arms grab her, tugging her into the air as dark smoke began to pour out of the hallway from where the fire still roared, sounding much like a fox as it thrashed its way deeper into the building. The white-haired man yelled when the entire top floor collapsed, shooting debris across the town. He grunted and pulled her higher into the air, and landed on a frog's head. The large amphibian took a giant leap and landed just outside the village so that they wouldn't land on a house, and where Jiraiya could examine Tsunade's wounds. Surprised, he found none; only a small child clutched in her hands. Her words made his eyes widen.

"K-Konoha ... K-konoha-ha ... Konoha-hama-maru ..."

Jiraiya lowered his eyes to the boy's silent body. The chest was still and the eyes were glazed. There was no other movement than Tsunade's shaking.

"... Konohamaru ..."

Blood smeared her shirt and pants. It was starting to stain her fingers. Jiraiya attempted to take the boy from her but she held it fast to her chest, clutching the lifeless boy silently.

"Tsunade-sama," Jiraiya said softly, still trying to take the body of the boy, "Hokage-sama ... he's-he's dead now ..."

"... no ..."

"Tsunade ..." The white-haired man sighed and waited for the shaking to stop. It really looked as if she was shaken by the death of this boy--the Sandiame's grandson. The village would feel the loss heavily in the morning, and many of his friends would be very sad. Jiraiya patted Tsunade's back, and she mumbled something to herself. Jiraiya frowned and sat down next to her. "Tsunade, we should go back to the village now."

"...---ty ..."

"Tsunade ... please, let's go--"

"Fifty." Jiraiya started.

"Tsunade?" The blonde head rose, looking shakily into the forest. "Fifty," she repeated to herself, "It'll be fifty." The old man just stared at her. "Tsunade? What do you mean?"

She cradled the silent body in her arms, much like a girl who'd gotten a new doll and was naming it, and smiled eerily, her eyes dilated and wide as her head tilted slightly to the side as she stared past Jiraiya at the still-burning tower.

"It'll be how much they're worth--alive."

..oo00oo..

_end chapter ..._

-- another chapter done ... whew--I can't keep writing these fast enough for anyone. Sorry about this chapter bein' so long. I'll try to explain a few things bellow after the chapter preview! :)

..oo00oo..

there _will_ be a chapter preview here in a few days. Let me get to _work_ on it first ...

..oo00oo..

since there isn't a preview right now, here's a few explanations before you ask:

1) **merging**-- will be explained in chapter 12. :) I know it seemed like they didn't care about it much, but kids have short attention spans. :p

2) **pairings**-- yes, this is kaka/ita. don't like, don't read. others will be gaa/naru, sasu/neji, and a few others later ... those are the main for right now. please let me know if you wanna see others.

3) **actions**-- there will be times when people are close, y'know, hugging and doing stuff together like ino and shikamaru, but there is no ino/shika in this. :( that was it, right there, above. (somewhere...) it's just friendly. besides, ino's too hardcore for shika--I'll think of something else ...

4) **updating**-- will always be slow b/c of lack of 'net. --;; gomen, but that's how it is.

5) **reviewing**-- will always make me update faster.

_Thanx!_

**--xxfissshbonesssxx**

(aka; blue 1/2, DJ, Sarah, Monica, gimme-the-remote, do-your-homework, and random fangirl# 672)


	11. The Hunt Begins

**Chapter 11: The Hunt Begins**

Ok. **Questions from reviews:**

Q: Where did **Aki** and **Taro** come from?

A: They were from the last really big paragraph of chapter 10, Vacation's End. They were originally used to tear up some stuff/people when Naruto and Gaara made their grand exit.

Q: Is **Neji** still **blind**?

A: Actually, yes. And I'll let you in on a secret-he'll be blind 'till he meets the person who caused it again …

Q: Why did you **kill Konohamaru**?

A: Who else would set off Tsunade to put Naruto and Gaara up on the Wanted List for 50 million yen?

Hey, guess what? This is the edited version! I realized after a second that I didn't put page breaks in, so it was real, real conrfusing ... Sorry for the delay. I'll have a chap. summary at the bottom of the page for those of you who don't get the main ideas ... (and so that I can keep track, too. :P) Sorry for the delay-didn't I say that? Well, I'll say it again. I am sorry ... T-T I've been so out of it lately ... oh, ignore me, read on!

-

Sasuke heard the explosion. He knew only one thing as the fire lit the midnight sky-that he now knew where Naruto and Gaara had gone after disappearing from the Hyuuga house. As he raced to a roof top, he caught sight of the hellish flames. They were a mix of deep red hue and orange tongues, all flickering heavenward and then hissing back down towards the furnace that was the crumbling building.

Cursing, he sped quicker than he'd ever ran in his life, not towards the fire, but away from it. Towards Kakashi's house. He could sense his cell leader there, and knew that he needed help. Rushing in blind and alone to face two demons wasn't going to be anything short of suicidal, and hence, he found himself at his teacher's door. There was a shout from inside and Sasuke became aware of the _two_ voices from the other side of the door. Without second thoughts, he wrenched the door off its hinges and tore into the house, crashing headfirst into the black-haired man in the hallway. Sasuke flew back, landing on his ass ungracefully as the other flew back in a similar fashion. However, his fall was cut short as Kakashi jumped to catch him.

"Itachi!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "...Itachi?"

The silver-haired man didn't seem to hear him. "Itachi-" Suddenly, a look of horror developed on his teacher's face at the other man's lack of response. Kakashi felt quickly for a pulse and then sighed in relief. Only after that did he even look up to acknowledge a stunned Sasuke's presence. He tiredly observed the fire building in the younger Uchiha's pose, and could almost feel the heat as his visage became more and more unclear.

"... Sasuke-"

The mere sight of his brother had completely washed any calm thought from Sasuke's mind. He didn't particularly care for the current Hokage, so Itachi's presence easily took precedence in his mind. His hands, curling slowly into fists, began to shake as he stared down at the sight presented to him. "Kakashi, what is my brother doing in your house?"

"-you didn't knock." Sasuke wasn't amused.

"Kakashi, answer my question."

The jounin frowned. "No."

Sasuke was just something short of furious. "I _deserve_ to know-_why is that man here?_!"

Kakashi shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to pull rank on this, Sasuke-I have a right to keep secrets from you, just as you _don't_ have the right to break into my house." The Uchiha glared when footsteps from behind him caught his attention.

Sakura was a little startled to find the door to her sensei's apartment on the floor outside, but knocked on the frame and slid her shoes off all the same. "Kakashi-sen-"

A little confused, Sakura stared at the scene-Sasuke sitting just in front of her, facing their teacher, who happened to be holding a grown man in his arms. The man seemed unconscious, but his face reminded Sakura strongly of Sasuke. She made a little cough. "Kakashi-sensei, should I look at that man?" Kakashi shook his head. "Sakura, why are you here?" Sakura's eyes widened. "You didn't hear it?" Suddenly, Sasuke remembered his original reason for rushing to his teacher's house.

"The Hokage's quarters have been attacked!"

"What!"

From behind Sakura, two knocks came and two people came in behind Sakura; Shikamaru and Hinata. The former didn't question the situation at present but gave Kakashi the same information that Sakura and Sasuke had, and some that they hadn't. "The Hokage has been attacked. Tsunade-sama was unharmed and Konohamaru-san ... was killed." Kakashi's eye widened and then fell to the floor.

"... were ... were there any other casualties?" he asked. Shikamaru nodded, stepping towards the door as Hinata ran over to Sasuke and checked him for physical wounds.

"Yes-but no names were available. All personal on that level were killed, however."

Kakashi's eye widened again. "Are you going there?"

Shikamaru, half gone, stopped and nodded. "Check on Iruka," Kakashi said quickly, in a tone that suggested the 'request' was in fact an order, and Shikamaru nodded, disappearing.

Sasuke thanked Hinata for her concern and then stood, glaring at his teacher. "Kakashi, Itachi is a criminal," he stated, ignoring the gasps that Sakura and Hinata issued at his brother's name, "and he's wanted by Konoha for certain crimes. We need to turn him in to the Hokage."

Kakashi made no reply but stood up, sliding an arm under Itachi's knees and the other holding his shoulders. The other man made no movements, and Sakura began to worry.

"Are you sure he's alive?" whispered Hinata, "He ... doesn't seem to be moving."

Sasuke glared at the man. "I'm sure of it," he spat, and then his eyes wrenched away from the man and cast their gaze upon something else, "... however ... we should get him to a hospital first."

Before Kakashi could speak, the other three students had vacated his house, and were standing outside the door, waiting for him. Their mouths were shut and they were ready to follow him through Konoha with a dangerous though unconscious man. And Kakashi could only offer his nod of silent thanks and consent as they shot off towards a hospital, the smoldering building in mind.

-

_She cradled the silent body in her arms, much like a child who'd gotten a new doll and was naming it, and smiled eerily, her eyes dilated and wide as her head tilted slightly to the side as she stared past Jiraiya at the still-burning tower._

"_It'll be how much they're worth-alive."_

Tsunade looked over the small desk, which would serve as a replacement until the main building was rebuilt, at the jounin who stood in front of her. He had been, for the last part of half an hour since the fires had been put out, trying to get her to tell what had caused the damage. Tsunade finally burst, and slammed a fist into the wood desk, which shattered into a thousand splinters. The man jumped and sheltered his face from the wood, though several of the larger chunks ripped his pants and shredded a section of his left sleeve.

"_Get out_! Go, just go!"

The man wisely chose to obey, disappearing with a swirl of leaves. He was just as soon replaced by a white-haired man and a sleeping chuunin. Tsunade recognized both men immediately. She stood up and ran over to Jiraiya. "Was he hurt?" The other sennin shook his head.

Tsunade sighed in relief. "I don't know what to do ... This was his fault, wasn't it?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "No, Tsunade-you could have refused but it might have cost you the village. You made the right choice to try."

The blonde nodded slowly, looking over the sleeping man's body with mixed emotions. "Iruka, what am I going to do? ..."

An ANBU suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke. "Tsunade-sama, Hatake Kakashi has requested to see you." Tsunade nodded absently. "Send him in."

"He has, um, requested you see him and his team in the hospital."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Has he been injured?" she asked quickly. The man replied just as quick, "no, Hokage-sama; however, the criminal Uchiha Itachi is with him."

Before he could say any more, Tsunade had disappeared.

-

They had arrived at the hospital with an unconscious man, and the medical ninjas had asked Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke to stay behind to fill out a small pile of paperwork as Itachi was assigned a room and a doctor to check him over. The hospital was fairly full, since the attack on the Hokage had been just a few hours ago, and the amount of people still alive was refreshing. It seemed only forty-eight people had been killed by the attack, including Konohamaru, and the number injured was greater, and for the most part, grateful to be alive. However, with so many patients, there were few doctors to spare, and the one that made a check on Itachi gave no real diagnosis before he was pulled away to treat a man with severe burns and a broken leg.

"I suggest you stay here, I'll send your other friends to this room if I can get to them," the doctor said as he slipped on gloves, "until then, I'll probably send a nurse in with her to do some other tests." He was gone, and Kakashi turned to the man on the bed.

Out in the hallway, Sasuke was filling out paperwork with a scowl. "The quality of this hospital is disgusting."

Hinata frowned. "Sa-Sasuke-kun! They were g-good enough to see us-and w-we d-d-don't even have an idea of w-what's wrong with Itachi-san ..." Sasuke laughed hollowly, the pen tip snapping in his grip.

Hinata scooted closer to Sakura, and said no more.

In the room, Kakashi sat next to Itachi's bed, the other man's breathing shallow and slow, though by no means alarmingly so. It was just ... too quiet. The cold, pale fingers were still at his sides and the dark black eyes were shut.

Sasuke looked up as someone brushed past him and walked into the room, shutting the door before Sasuke could get a look at her face. She was tall, blonde, but other than that, he didn't recognize her. Kakashi did as the blonde shut the door behind her.

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Kakashi-sensei," she said in half-formal greeting as she immediately began checking Itachi for various signs of life, then, "When did you run into Itachi?"

The jounin answered truthfully. "Almost yesterday." Tsunade nodded.

"I thought so. You have a closer relation to him than you let on, didn't you?"

Kakashi paused before answering truthfully again.

"Yes."

Tsunade frowned. "He seems fine ... I'm going to have him removed to a regular prison until a correct course of action can be thought out ... this should wake him." She gathered chakara in her first two fingers and pressed a point on Itachi's neck. The body jerked, but his eyes stayed shut. Tsunade's eyes widened. Her hands ran over the patient's body again, checking every inch of muscle and even asking Kakashi for assistance in a particular medical check that required more than two hands, or the patient's cooperation (insimplerterms: the patient had to be conscious). All in all, the entire body seemed normal, except for a small nerve disturbance somewhere in Itachi's neck and near the base of his central nervous system. Suddenly, the impossible (and last reasonable) option presented itself before her. "But ... then ..."

The door opened as Tsunade looked down at Itachi with wide eyes.

"He's in a comatose."

Sasuke froze.

Tsunade turned to see Sasuke in the doorway and cursed. "Sasuke! What are you doing here?" The Uchiha growled. "I'm _family_, aren't I? I'm allowed in-" Tsuande's eyes narrowed. "Uchiha Sasuke, you will remove yourself from this room _this instant_."

"I will **not**!" Sasuke growled, a look of disgust flashing across his face, "I'm _tired_ of being ignored! I'm sixteen; I'm old enough to be part of this! This man killed my family; he's a murderer and-"

"-and you're pushing it," said Kakashi softly as Tsunade glared at Sasuke. The glare was returned with equal ferocity, and neither Hokage nor gennin budged. Finally, Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Uchiha Sasuke, I am ordering you to remove yourself before I have someone remove you."

Sasuke's eyes widened as Kakashi stood up, a grim look on his face. He knew that he still wasn't as fast as his teacher, and that Kakashi could disable him or knock him unconscious if he really needed to. However, he wouldn't go down without a fight.

The door flew open just as Sasuke prepared to strike, Sakura and Hinata rushing into the room and clamping onto his arms. "S-Sasuke-kun! Stop!"

"Sasuke, this is way out of control!"

The two kunoichis had both of his arms firmly held. Furiously, he struggled until something froze him in place and Shikamaru stepped into view in the doorway.

"How troublesome. Hokage-sama, I'll take charge of Sasuke for while."

But the black-haired Uchiha would not be calmed or subdued. He fought desperately against Shikamaru's shadow bind. With a choked shout, he forced all the chakara he could muster into his feet and then through his shadow. The gennin's eyes widened when Sasuke actually tore his shadow from Shikamaru's, dislodging Sakura and Hinata in the process. Shikamaru shouted as pain laced through his body as an effect of the disconnection being forced by the one being _held_ and the two girls landed with loud thumps against either wall, leaving the enraged Uchiha alone in the middle of the room. The spark in Sasuke's eyes rose to a full-out blaze and he prepared to launch himself bodily at the Hokage. Tsunade, eyes wide, prepared to knock him out herself, when a fourth person appeared in the door.

Sasuke whirled to see who it was, and froze at the sight of the white-eyed boy stood panting in the doorway, holding onto the door frame with a pained expression.

"Sasuke ..."

His knees gave out (a/n: ok, so Neji's a little girly for the moment...) and Sasuke, anger flying from him quicker than was rational, dove under the other boy and stopped his fall.

"Neji! How the hell did you get here?"

The white-eyed boy laughed. "Byakugan ... I could see for a while ... but I'm out of chakara now ..." His eyes blinked and when they opened again, they reflected nothing but darkness.

Tsunade, sensing the threat of Sasuke was now over, sighed in relief and turned back to Itachi. "I really can't say when he'll wake up-and since it was a Konoha ninja that recovered him, I suppose I have to give the reward to you, Kakashi." But Kakashi wouldn't allow it. "I refuse to even touch money. If anything, I want Itachi's name to be taken off the most-wanted lists. He's here now, in Konoha. I don't want to have to see his face on any more wanted posters."

Tsunade looked long and hard at the man's expression, and then said softly, "I'll consider it. When the time comes, I'll see what I can do." Kakashi nodded, knowing the Hokage wasn't promising him anything, and was faintly content with that.

Sasuke had dragged Neji to a corner of the room and was checking him for injuries. Neji found it slightly amusing. Actually, he found it rather funny. "Honestly, Sasuke, do you think just because you weren't there to hold my hand that I've gone and run into every wall and light post on the way here?" Sasuke didn't pause in his check as he replied, "I wouldn't be surprised."

He rose a hand to check Neji's neck and shoulders when a hand grabbed the searching hand by the wrist and Sasuke froze. Neji rose his other hand to Sasuke's chin and then his cheek, and drew the other boy close so that their foreheads touched.

"I'm fine."

He closed his eyes and Sasuke felt the heat of Neji's mouth against his once again.

Sakura and Hinata, who had been watching Tsunade talk to Kakashi, found their gazes turning to Sasuke to ask him a question or two about Itachi, and had been stunned to see him kissing the boy he'd been checking for injuries. Hinata flushed and looked elsewhere, while Sakura blushed furiously and tried to wrench her own eyes away. Neji, leaning up into the kiss, had one hand in Sasuke's hair and had relinquished Sasuke's other hand in favor of holding the boy's waist. The released hand found itself on Neji's cheek as the kiss deepened, (1) Sasuke groaning softly but audibly into Neji's mouth. The noise drew the attention of every person in the room and Tsunade, honorable Hokage of Konoha, almost 40 years their senior, couldn't restrain herself from jumping at the sight of the Uchiha heir draped over the stoic Hyuga Branch House member. Kakashi's eye widened and then he smiled. Maybe it was for the best. Then, in spite of the sensual situation, a grin broke out over his face.

This would be _excellent_ for blackmail.

Sasuke suddenly realized that they were being watched, and he slowly pulled away from Neji, turning to face the Hokage and his sensei with a slightly horrified look as the man dangled a digital camera from his fingers.

"... Sasuke, this _is_ a hospital," Tsunade said through clenched teeth that was actually a grin, though the blush staining her cheeks suggested she hadn't minded the free show at all, "It would be best, I think, to further examine Neji in a more, ah, private location." Sasuke flushed red as his eyes as Kakashi laughed evilly to himself.

"Neji's fine," he said shortly, standing up abruptly and turning to stalk out of the room when Neji, still on the floor, asked for help getting up. Sakura turned around to assist him, and Sasuke found himself pushing her gently aside so _he_ could do it. Sakura blinked and then stood next to Hinata with a puzzled look on her face as Sasuke 'assisted' the boy up, and out of the room. Hinata flushed. Kakashi grinned for another second, and then looked back seriously at the Hokage.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"... how long?"

Kakashi knew there was no definite answer to this question, but it would feel good if she at least told him he wouldn't be waiting a thousand years. Tsunade checked the body again before sighing and putting a hand to her forehead.

"Possibly years. Probably not anytime within this year, though. I'm sorry, Kakashi," she said softly, turning to look at him, "but I'll probably also have to keep a pair of ANBU with him at all times, in case he _does_ wake up in that time." Kakashi stiffened, but then looked at the bed and nodded. Thankful for his face mask, the silver-haired man looked longingly at the younger man.

Tsunade felt pity for him; however, they both knew what she had suggested was going to be put into order as soon as they left. Two ANBU might be enough to detain Itachi if he woke, and then they might not be. At least the Hokage would be informed of Itachi's awakening and then she would deal with the dangerous man again. She cleared her throat.

"For now, I'll have to assign a trustworthy person to watch him medically. I won't have some common doctors trying to kill Uchiha Itachi in his sleep." Hinata looked up as Tsunade called her and Sakura's names.

"You two have been trained in the medical arts, right? I know I trained you, Sakura-san." Sakura nodded and Hinata said, "y-yes. My family r-required all clan m-members to learn about a w-wide range of m-medical skills-but I'm not v-very good at it ..." She thought for a moment and then suggested that Neji had better medical skills than herself. Tsunade nodded, but then pointed out that Neji was currently handicapped, and she would prefer Hinata to assist Sakura in making periodical checks on Itachi until she could find such trustworthy people. Embarrassed and proud that they were considered trustworthy by the Hokage herself, the two kunoichis readily accepted their responsibilities.

Tsunade looked around and then sighed. "Well, I'll see you all later-I just came because Uchiha Itachi was here. I think I'm going to go help the staff with a few of the more serious cases." They all bowed as she left and before she shut the door behind her, she poked her head in to say, "Hinata-san, tell Neji-kun that I send him my congratulations." Hinata flushed deeply as the Hokage laughed and walked out of the room. Sakura wobbled a little and then fainted, Kakashi catching her and dragging her to a chair. "Hinata, watch Sakura for a while," he said quickly, "I'm going to go get Sasuke. We'll go help clean up that tower."

-

"What do you think?"

"I think we're probably on the most-wanted list."

"Well, duh! I mean, what do you think of my snow-fox?"

Gaara looked over at the lumped mass and smiled. It had pointed ears protruding from the top of its head and three tails. "It's pretty."

Naruto beamed.

They had been running for twenty-five minutes when they decided to stop. They'd reached a cold portion of the Mist country, and were currently sitting in plain view, playing in the snow. Gaara was sitting on a throne of snow fashioned by the dark brown dragon, Taro (pronounced 't-air-oh'), which was currently curled up with its counterpart Aki, the gray badger with two tails. As for why they had stopped, Naruto had simply refused to move at the sight of snow. It was too fun to pass up. Gaara had complained that their flowers would die when he was hit with an idea, and used the sand to create a temperature-resistant case for them. With the flowers safe, he had joined Naruto in playing. Now, they were kind of tired, and the two demons were prodding them with subtle amounts of chakara to keep them awake.

"Naruto, we gotta think for a minute." The tone of Gaara's voice suggested it was Shukaku who'd spoken. Curious, Naruto stopped and hopped over to the other boy, making him scoot over in the throne of snow. They weren't surprised that it held their weight at all.

"What do we have to think about for a minute?"

"We just attacked the Hokage-again," said Gaara thoughtfully, "and they're probably going to put lots of money on our heads. We'll be like those missing-nins, only more dangerous." Naruto nodded. "So? They're no problem." It was true; Gaara's sand had stopped anything coming at them, smart or dumb. Gaara nodded. "But we still need to think-we have something else to do." Naruto suddenly lost his sunshine. "Haku-chan ..."

Gaara scolded himself for making Naruto depressed, but the blonde sprang right back up, "we'll train!" Relieved, Gaara nodded. "Yeah. Train." The bright blue eyes laughed at him, and he laughed back.

"Where do ya wanna train?"

"In different terrain. One month in different environments."

Naruto pouted. "... no ramen?"

Gaara shrugged. "Maybe." The blonde mock-died at the news, and Gaara continued. "I wanna start in Mist. We can increase accuracy after physical strength." Naruto, still playing dead, nodded. "After that, we can do agility and endurance in Sand." Another nod. "And we can work on power in Stone." He paused. "Is there anything else you can think of?"

"No. Ask 'kaa-san."

_'Is there anything else we should work on?'_

**_/Communication skills. Refine the Box Trick and tell the brat that he needs work on the seven tails-suppressed./ _**Naruto grumbled to himself as Kyuubi thought aloud. "I don't _like_ seven tails. I wanna learn eight-"

**_/Not until you master seven. Not a bloody chance./ _**Naruto whined to no avail as Gaara turned to his own demon for advice. **_'Probably speed and accuracy, as you suggested. Just remember that we'll only be there to coach you for so long ...'_**

Both boys suddenly remembered. Their time with the two demons was ticking, and the clock would eventually run out. Kyuubi and Shukaku were nervous in their own way, but not so much as Naruto and Gaara, who would have to bear the one-sided pain of merging and the emptiness afterwards.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Naruto as he shot up, startling Taro and Aki, "Let's go!" Gaara agreed, and the sand gathered on his back as they prepared to leave. The two others got up and latched onto a boy, Aki climbing on Naruto's back and Taro clamping its six sets of claws around Gaara's shoulders and waist. Neither boy felt their weight as they threw themselves headfirst into the tear in time and reality, landing on the other side of the Mist country in the same instant.

-

Tsunade turned to face Jiriya. "It's settled, then." The white-haired man nodded. "Tsunade ... are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am."

The old man sighed. He felt much older of late for some reason. "You're the Hokage, then, Tsunade," he said, "I'll tell them you want to add their names on the list."

"And you have my other order?"

"To take Uchiha Itachi's name off the list?"

Tsunade looked out the window of her temporary office. From where she currently sat, she could see Sasuke and Kakashi working with Gai's team and Kurenai's team to help clear the debris away from the old building. Her gaze fell on the two and a tiny smile squirmed onto her face. "Yes. Thanks."

The old man smiled warmly at her. "Don't mention it." He disappeared in a puff of smoke, and left Tsunade to think.

-

Outside, Sasuke and Lee worked side-by-side to hoist huge support beams up and out of the mess of a building. In the end, the city had decided to re-do the building, and was simply getting the larger pieces of reusable wood out of the way before they destroyed the rest of the building. Hinata and Sakura were inside the building with Kurenai, Ino, and Tenten, moving the paperwork that had survived to a new location near Tsunade that would have to serve as an office of information until the new tower was built. Neji, blind but not helpless, was picking out the most sturdy of the surviving beams that could be used again and Lee, Kakashi, Gai, and Sasuke would come and move them out. The black-eyed Hyuuga tapped a stay beam and passed over it, and Neji felt around for another as Lee and Sasuke hoisted another large beam onto a pile. Neji told Kakashi and Gai that he could handle being alone with the other two gennin; there were just a few left to pick up anyhow. The two older men left Sasuke and Lee in charge of Neji, and then leapt away from the rubble to help Kurenai's team on the ground-levels.

"Here's a good one," called Neji as Sasuke knelt down next to him and frowned at the wood. "How can you tell?" he asked as Lee came up next to him, the two of them lifting the large beam onto their shoulders with ease. Neji either hadn't heard Sasuke (which wasn't likely) or was simply choosing to ignore the other boy. He instead got up and wobbled over a few feet to examine another pole.

"Neji-kun sure has changed," said Lee cheerfully. Sasuke sweat dropped. "What do you mean? He ignored me completely." Lee beamed as they deposited their load and turned to get another. "Just a feeling." Sasuke shook his head as they made their way back to Neji, who had found one last savable beam.

"Lee, Sasuke, this one's good." This time, he stood up and followed them away from the remaining rubble. As they deposited the load, Sasuke turned and grabbed Neji's wrist. The other boy froze and then rose his unseeing eyes to Sasuke's face. "... yes, Sasuke?"

The slightly shorter boy frowned. "We need to talk." Neji lowered his sightless gaze to the ground.

Kakashi called their names and Lee turned to Sasuke. "I'll tell them you guys are cleaning up."

Sasuke suddenly realized that there was another person still on the floor with them and nodded at the green-clad ninja. Then, he muttered, "Thanks." Lee just nodded knowingly and left the two alone. Sasuke looked at Neji. Dark, black eyes, not meant to be the cold, inky shade of night, stared at the ground although they did not see it. "Neji-we need to talk."

The other boy looked up in frustration. "Then **talk**, Sasuke."

And words failed him.

Somewhat furiously, Sasuke tried to recall what he should have said, or wanted to hear, and then realized that he hadn't _wanted_ anything to be said. Neji felt Sasuke's grip change several times and finally it released his hand. Sasuke looked at the ground. Nothing had _needed_ to be said before. But it was different now, wasn't it?

"Sasuke?"

"I'm sorry."

Neji frowned. "For what?"

"For kissing you." He was surprised when Neji laughed. "What's funny?"

"I seem to recall a certain situation where I was the one that kissed _you_." Sasuke felt the lightest shade of pink color his cheeks. "In front of my team and the Hokage," he muttered. Neji laughed. "Shut up," Sasuke growled, more color rising to his face. Neji blinked and grinned. "You're blushing, aren't you?" This time, his cheeks flushed red. Neji's hand jumped out before Sasuke could stop it and ran pale fingertips down his cheek.

The grin widened.

"You _are _blushing."

Sasuke slapped the fingers away, and Neji cradled his stinging hand. "Hey, beating up a blind person isn't good for your public image, Sasuke." Said Uchiha didn't dare blush more-any more blood to his face might result in combustion. "Shut up. I thought we were going to have a serious conversation about liking each other." Neji looked thoughtful for a moment and then crossed his arms over his chest.

"No," he announced, "I don't think we shall." Sasuke looked confused.

"What's the point," asked the taller boy tiredly as he reached out a hand, "in talking about something that _doesn't need words_?" Mechanically, Sasuke caught the searching hand and held it in his own. He finally realized that neither of them could talk about it because there was nothing to **be** said. They didn't need to say anything. Wide-eyed, he stared in slight surprise at the boy's sage comment and half a moment later, he smirked.

"... you could have just said that."

"You're just thick."

"Shut up."

"Enlarge your vocabulary first."

"Please occupy your mouth with something other than _talking_," Sasuke said with a hint of irritation to his voice. Neji rose an eyebrow and brought the hand up to Sasuke's neck, and then brought his lips to Sasuke's neck. Sasuke gasped as a tongue flicked out along his neck and traced a wet line up his jaw until the lips found his mouth and slowly developed into a kiss. With some amusement, Sasuke tilted his head back enough to murmur, "much better."

"Shut up," Neji murmured in return as he reclaimed the lips.

Kakashi frowned. Sasuke and Neji were sure taking a long time.

Kakashi looked at Lee. "Are you _sure_ they're ok?" Lee nodded. "Yup. Besides, you don't want to bother them now." Kakashi stopped in his footsteps and turned on the Gai-look-alike. "What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

Lee blinked and turn offered him an incredulous look. "Have _you_ ever seen an angry Uchiha _and_ Hyuuga?"

Kakashi paled. "Yes," he managed, "I have."

They turned away and said no more.

-

After a few warm-up exercises, Naruto erected a barrier around them in the form of a 100 foot tall-100 foot wide invisible box. This would allow them to train in all the natural environment without anyone feeling an inkling of demon energy. It would also act as a barrier to any normal ninjas or villagers in the remote area; if they came up to the invisible wall, they would find a reason to turn back. The wall also canceled all visible effects, so nothing would be seen, even if a wandering villager was standing feet outside the box and Naruto was floating in midair just inside.

Gaara looked up at Naruto as Aki licked at his hands. "We need to follow Itachi's schedule," he said, "we've done warm-ups. We'll hone our accuracy for thirty minutes and then we can use the next two hours for physical toning." Naruto nodded; so far it sounded doable. Tora pushed his knees and Naruto fell on his back, laughing but keeping an ear out for the rest of Gaara's instructions. "We'll work on seeing in the rain and through the mist, and then maybe snow and sandstorms for about half an hour. Then we can rest."

Both boys (and eventually Itachi) had come to learn that simply pounding information or training into a body, without time for it to stop and absorb what it had leaned, was practically useless.

"We'll take an hour for speed and endurance and rest again, and then spend the rest of the day on power before dinner."

They had also come to learn that, unlike many rogue ninjas, eating three meals a day actually helped one's metabolism. Instead of running off pure energy (which they could) it was much easier to feed the body at certain intervals and then continue training. With their schedule decided, they disappeared from sight.

Anyone with their speed would be able to see blurs of color passing each other and then splitting, much like bacteria would, into many clones. After about twenty clones were present per each boy, they shot off at the same speed. Even Naruto and Gaara had some trouble pinpointing their clones, whose orders were to use the present mist to hide and confuse their opponents.

They had silently agreed that it would be a more intense kind of training exercise-you not only had to hit a bunshin, which moved incredibly fast, even by _their_ standards, but you also had to hit your _own _bunshin. And unlike regular clones, these clones had their own kunai each and could deflect regular kunai and shuriken. The only way any attacks were going to hit was if they sent a weapon in the direction of a bunshin with chakara behind it. Either that, or risk getting close enough to actually impale the clone.

Naruto sped up a tree, relying on only himself since he wasn't allowed to produce any counter-clones. He stopped here, sending out a handful of shuriken to startle anything in the immediate area. They whizzed neatly into different areas, and exploded. Two forms shot out of a bush, and Naruto appeared by their side before he stopped himself and leapt away.

They were both Gaara-clones. Off-limits.

/_Whoops_/ he thought as the two clones grabbed him by the wrist and held him down to the ground. They took their kunai in their other hands and thrust them down at Naruto, who yelped and slid out from under their grasp at the last moment. The two bunshin jerked as kunai landed square in their backs and they disappeared in a puff of smoke. From just above him on a tree branch, Gaara smirked before flitting away, avoiding three shuriken that came at him from behind.

The trio of stars that missed Gaara turned to Naruto and the blonde sent out a wave of chakara that slowed their descent enough to make them catchable and then he teleported by hat trick to where they'd come from and shot the shuriken again. This time, when they hit, nothing happened and Naruto was gone, replaced by air that was sliced by the three kunai that had been thrown at his back. With a thump, a Naruto-clone fell to the floor and the blue-eyed boy laughed. Two fists wove silently through the air and the blonde was knocked into a tree by both a Naruto-clone and a Gaara-clone. Recovering, he remembered that the _clones_ had no restrictions to physical actions save imploding, and blocked the next kicks to his stomach with a kunai. With a growl, the Naruto-clone yanked the kunai out of his foot as the Gaara-clone took the opportunity to aim for the real Naruto's head. The kick hit home, but both clones disappeared as their respective creators got them with chakara-enforced kunais. Naruto spotted Gaara once again, and was slightly surprised to see the other boy so out of breath. Then, he scrambled away as two more Naruto-clones shot at him. Their fists left a small crater in the earth as they pulled up and one used the other as a springboard to shoot at the real blonde, who slipped away with hat-trick. The clone found a kunai in the side of its head in the same instant, and disappeared with a grin as the second clone saw the opening and shot five shuriken out. With a 180 twist, Naruto avoided every weapon but was disappointed as the clone disappeared as well.

-

Almost an entire hour later, Naruto collapsed next to a Gaara-clone, which rose a kunai before jerking and fading into mist as the real Gaara staggered over to lie by Naruto.

"That ... was hell," rasped Naruto. "I didn't _know_ ... I was so good ... at hide-and-seek."

Gaara nodded. "Too much," he admitted, "twenty was ... too many for ... training."

Naruto agreed. "We're too good. Maybe ten or five ..."

Gaara snorted and put his head on Naruto's shoulder, still breathing hard. "You had ... to use floating ... _and_ the surprise-box ... to get rid of three clones. Next time it'll be only ten ... and it'll be** strictly** taijutsu." Naruto moaned but Gaara was impassive.

"This was supposed to work ... our accuracy, but you destroyed ... two of my clones." The blonde made a face. "You got one of mine!" he whined. Gaara smirked. "It was sleeping ... I couldn't resist." Naruto jumped. "So that's it-you secretly wanna kill me in my sleep." He made a horrified face and then laughed it off.

"How ... can you laugh?" Naruto shrugged. "Dunno ..."

The two boys didn't move for another moment, taking the time to recuperate. Heavy breathing wasn't something either of them had done since they were about fifteen. Itachi had drilled them on running, _really_ running; they'd been forced to go from the northern end of the Stone country to the very south of Suna then all the way across Konoha and to the northern most corner of the Could village, and _then_ back to where they started. Not only did they have to run, they had had to run with fifty-pound weights on each leg and arm, with a time limit of two days, there was also the impending threat of having to do it again if they didn't make it. They had been forbidden to use any demon energy, and when they finished late the next day, Itachi decided that something like that would be exercised as punishment whenever they did something out of line. They'd only had to ever make that trip twice more, and on the last time, both boys collapsed and didn't get up for a week. Since then, they hadn't done anything that forced them to breathe so hard.

"Gaa-chan?" murmured Naruto five minutes later. They'd recovered for the most part, and had returned their breathing to normal. Gaara had sat up, and Naruto was now leaning on his shoulder. "Hn?"

"I wanna take a nap ..." The other boy nodded, and Naruto promptly dropped off. His head dropped into Gaara's lap and the other boy immediately relaxed, a hand running through the bright blonde spikes with a sense of ownership-Naruto, after all, was _his._

-

When Naruto woke up, they had a serious discussion on what to do for training their physical bodies. Naruto suggested practicing katas with weights and then some meditational yoga. Gaara agreed to both, although in the reverse order. So for the next hour, they focused on clearing their minds, and finding an inner-peace.

Which, for boths boys, seemed near-impossible to achieve.

Naruto jumped almost every five seconds, and Gaara couldn't focus because something was bugging him internally. Something that might be about merging with Shukaku. For whatever reasons, they couldn't seem to concentrate at all, and after twenty minutes of fidgeting, they decided to try it the other way.

They'd need some weights. Gaara decided that they could make their own. Naruto entertained Aki and Taro while Gaara concentrated, pulling the densest materials from deep under the ground. After gathering enough to make four sets of weights, Naruto made a small furnace with a fire-type jutsu and they began trying to make their own weights. Gaara's sand couldn't help because it turned to glass before it could get a good grip on the metal. Taro was staring at the molten minerals curiously when it stuck its head in the furnace and lapped up some of the liquid metal. Naruto and Gaara stared at Taro as she (it's now officially a 'she') chewed up the white-hot substance and then spat out a rough cube-like square of incredibly dense metal. Gaara examined the small cube while Taro took another mouthful of the liquid metal and began rolling it around in her mouth. It was solid, almost black, and very densely concentrated, from what Gaara could tell.** '_I'd guess that Taro's saliva caused it to solidify, and that the nature of her being allowed her to withstand the heat.'_** Naruto and Gaara stared at each other, totally lost.

"Huh?"

_**/Simple words: Taro's a dragon made out of sand. She can make little deformed blocks of metal because her saliva cools it and makes it harden into a shape./**_

**'_But this won't solve your problem if you want weights,'_** growled Shukaku in slight irritation, **_'Weights need to be not only custom to fit you, but regular weights like training weights need to be smooth, and I don't see how little blocks of metal will help, dense and efficient or not.'_**

Taro seemed to sense that her craftsmanship wasn't being appreciated, and spat out the cube in her mouth. Aki picked it up and stuck his (and Aki will officially be a 'he') paws into the fire.

Gaara and Naruto fiddled with the small block for a while before Aki made a loud noise, announcing his triumph on something. Naruto turned around to see the gray badger when Aki picked up another fragment of Taro's firework and thrust it into the fire, along with his paws. Naruto yelped, and Gaara turned to see what was going on.

"How-"

'**_Aki can withstand the heat, same as Taro can.'_** Naruto nodded, still gaping at the two-tailed badger with its paws in the fire. "O-Ok … but how?"

**_/Same way that Taro can eat the stuff./_** In the end, the two boys decided that they'd just have to let the two play with the metals-they were fascinated with making little metal figurines. Aki was an excellent blacksmith. He used his paws to make rough shapes in the fire, then used fine claws to make out the more minute details. Taro started taking more of the liquid metals in at a time and Aki moved from making figures to long, sharp sticks.

Gaara was suddenly struck with an idea. "Naruto," he said, "we can have custom-made weapons..."

And the rest of the afternoon was spent doing just that.

-

At midnight, Naruto yawned, and Taro spat out the last of her now fist-size cubes. Gaara looked up at the sky and Aki withdrew his claws, leaving the last piece of metalwork to cool.

The two boys collapsed on each other._ 'Making weapons … is hard work.'_ Gaara couldn't even speak he'd expended so much chakara. Naruto barely summoned the strength needed to nod once and then was out like a light on Gaara's shoulder. The other boy automatically put a hand in Naruto's hair, and another around the sleeping boy's waist.

His eyes traveled over the weapons they'd finished. There were two katanas, which were probably going to last a millennia if used correctly, two shuriken, two kunai, and two short blades that were slightly longer than daggers. They only needed one each because they could copy from it. It might waste the minimum amount of chakara, but it was much more convienient than having to actually carry around everything. They'd fashioned three sets of weights, one to train, one to spar, and one to wear for the rest of their lives. That had taken the longest-and though it weighed less than the 200 pounds they would use for training, it was still a helluva lot to wear. The Akatsuki cloak alone had weighed in at 100, and the armor that was given to them during training was 50 even, so this would add on another 50. Their training schedule had been scattered to the wind for that one day, but it had been reconfigured. Tomorrow, they would begin a routine that would follow them for an entire year, breaking for only a week before the demons prepared them to merge.

Thinking of Naruto again, Gaara brought the other boy closer, and Naruto turned over, falling off Gaara's shoulder and snuggling into his chest. The warmth reminded Gaara faintly of a small smile through tears as he shut his own eyes, following Naruto into dreams.

-

Sasuke stared out the window of his teacher's house.

Kakashi was cooking rice in the kitchen. Sakura was setting the table for three. Hinata was making tea for two.

Sasuke stared out the window of his teacher's house.

Kakashi and Hinata and Sakura were sitting around the table, looking down at their food with little enthusiasm and less hunger.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke stared out the window.

"... Sasuke?"

Sasuke stared.

Sakura stood up and walked over to the other boy, gently closing his eyelids. The boy gently fell from his sitting position to the couch, now taking on the actual appearance of sleep. Sakura gave him a worried look as she returned to the table. "He's sleeping with his eyes open now," she said softly, "like he's watching for something." Kakashi sighed and put his hands on the table and pushed away the food. "I know." Hinata took the tea to her lips, shuddering somewhat as the drink slid past her throat, bitter and hot.

Somewhere far away, Naruto mastered seven-tails suppressed and jumped so high in his glee that he almost punctured a cloud.

Somewhere far away, yet closer than that, Itachi twitched in his sleep, a deep and somewhat irritated breath escaping him, as if Itachi knew that his brother was being an idiot.

Not too far away, a boy with pitch-black eyes sat on a rooftop alone, trying to figure out what to say to Itachi's little brother to let him know how he felt.

Sasuke slept on.

-

end chapter. That's all I got for now.

-

(1): right there, when I was writing this frantically trying to remember everything had to be right, i felt my heart pulse deeper than I'd ever felt before. It was like my own writing was trying to pull me in and show me how it felt. Totally cool.

Ok! Sorry that this is a relatively short chapter, but it's the best I could do. I really need to start working on this ... anyway, I've been distracted (really, really distracted) of late, and so I've been zoning out, and forgetting to do the fic. Sorry! Anyway, I have a preview this time ...

Gomen, I got the preview now!

Preview:

"G-gomen, Neji-kun," stammered Hinata as she looked at her lap, "H-he did stop b-b-by Sakura-chan's place late last n-night." Neji blinked. "How late?"

Sakura laughed softly to herself as she answered him.

"_Too_ late."

-

"Will it hurt?"

"Death is not pain—it is salvation."

-


	12. The Hunt

**Chapter 12: the Hunt**

I thought it might be nice if I updated on FCAT day. - Here's a special treat for everyone-chapter 12! Yay! Ok! Stuff from last time:

1-Itachi's in a coma (just because.),

2-Naruto and Gaara are training really, really, really hard to get ready for Merging,

3-Aki the gray badger and Taro the brown dragon are here to stay,

4-Tsunade's put some major money on Naruto and Gaara's heads, and

5-the romance between Neji and Sasuke is actually going somewhere! I was worried when I started writing it that I wouldn't be able to pull off romance because I've never been in love myself-everyone I talked to about it says it's supposed to be much more gushy than that or a whole lot less gushy, and I just figured that it's too much trouble. I don't have time for romance, only time for writing.

**Disclaimers**, I own nothing, yadda yadda, so on and so forth ...

**Warnings**: shonen-ai/yaoi/guyxguy pairings ... I could go on and on here. Some OOC, but that's just cauz' I've never seen an episode of Naruto in my life T-T.

I'd like to thank everyone who's pushed and shoved and prodded and kicked me along this far. I'm very thankful to you-several in fact-crimsonnightmare, ghostninja, bakudon, voldemorntfollower(who encourages me at school), and silverspell. You all keep me on track. (squeals and glomps)

Anyway, you don't wanna hear me babble after waiting so long for a chapter-so on with the fic!

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Jun sighed. Another day, another last-minute customer. As the man shoveled the food into his mouth, Jun placed the other ramen bowls into a sink and offered the man a smile.

"Hey, slow down there, fella! You're going to choke if you eat that fast-although, I did know a kid who could inhale ramen with the best of 'em ..."

The man finished an extra-large bite and took a deep gasp for air before throwing Jun a grin. "Can't slow down-gotta get in the wilderness and start lookin'. There's a new pair o' bounty heads out there." Jun blinked and grinned. "Ah... looking for some missing-nins? You really do us all a favor, y'know? Keepin' us safe from all those S an' A-class nins." The man rubbed the back of his head modestly but he returned Jun's grin. "Oh, don't call it that-we don't do no community service. It's really all self benefiting from our point of view, but I guess you could say that." He took a few more large bites and looked back to Jun.

"Y'know, there are some really ugly people in the world now a days-renegade ninjas runnin' a muck all over the country ..."

Jun sighed. "Yeah. I know what you mean. I'm afraid for my daughter and wife half the time."

The other man leaned across the counter with a confidential air.

"Look ... this isn't supposed to be public 'till Monday, but you seem like a concerned fella. I got the names and faces of the two that are supposed to be worth fifty-million yen."

Jun's eyes bulged.

"Fifty-million!" (a/n: i know this is a lot, but hey, let's just go with that)

"Yep. Biggest bounty since Uchiha Itachi, but I hear that one got turned in."

The owner of the ramen shop made a low whistle. "They caught that crazy Uchiha?"

"Yeah. They're sayin' that Hatake Kakashi brought him in-y'know ... Copy eye Kakashi." Jun nodded his agreement. "That guy is sure amazing."

"Yeah-and I hear that ..." he leaned closer, glancing around left and right to make sure there were no eavesdroppers, "... well, I ain't sure, but I thought I heard someone' sayin' that he's ... sleepin'." Jun frowned. "What kind of sleeping?" The man pointed at his forehead. "Like, 'ain't waking up for forty years', Rip Van Wrinkle, sleepin'." Jun laughed at the reference to the tale of Rip Van Wrinkle. "Good. But I'd like to know why he did what he did..."

"Same reason the other freaks out there did-because they're crazy."

Jun sighed. "Well, best get along. It's past closing time."

The man nodded, finishing his ramen with a twirl of his chopsticks. "Thanks. Oh, here's a picture of those wanted nins. You can keep it-I've got two copies. I'm leaving tonight, so this is my last meal here." Jun offered him a smile.

"Good luck on your journeys," he said as the man waved and left the shop, jogging to catch up with another man that was heading towards the gates. With some amusement, Jun left the picture until he'd cleared away the customer's dishes. When he returned, there was someone standing in the man's place. In his hands were the pictures he'd left. Jun frowned.

"Hey-we're closed."

The boy looked up at Jun. "Did that man say that the people in these pictures had money on their heads?" Jun nodded before remembering that it wasn't supposed to be public information yet. Before he could correct himself, the boy had disappeared.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Neji took a deep breath, knocked three times, and then stood back from the door with his sightless eyes open. He heard the footsteps coming towards the door and smiled as it creaked open, a girl's delighted gasp greeting his ears.

"Neji-kun! What a pleasant surprise! We were just talking about you, come on in!" Neji allowed the ecstatic girl to sweep him into the house, feeling only slightly awkward about being helped with by more than one person as Hinata (who he now identified by nervous movements and stammering) helped him out of his shoes and Sakura, who had seen him in, directed him to the couch. Lee greeted him warmly and offered him a seat opposite to his own. Neji took it with a smile and thanks as Hinata offered him tea which the Hyuuga politely accepted. Hinata and Sakura sat down, the pink-haired kunoichi taking the seat to Lee's left.

"So nice of you to drop in, Neji-kun!" exclaimed Lee. The taijutsu specialist was even beginning to sound like Gai, let alone looking almost exactly like him. "Any special occasion?"

"Actually," said the boy softly, "I was ... hoping that I'd find Sasuke here."

Sakura and Hinata looked at each other and Neji knew that they were grinning at him. He gave a sigh as Lee joined them. After their episode at the hospital, Neji and Sasuke had been slightly more open about their feelings towards one another. Of course, it had only been three days since then, but three days was a lot in the recovering Konoha. They made quite the pair, and for most girls, it was an object of constant discussion.

Yesterday, Sasuke had wandered out late after hours. Neji wondered if he'd been breaking the curfew that Tsunade had set in stone-already two or three careless or arrogant gennins had been stripped of their titles and sent home with a warning. The security around the village after the attack on the Hokage had gone to new heights. It had been tight before, and now it was suffocating. Only the ANBU went where they pleased when they pleased, and even jounins were susceptible to the rule of curfew. Some viewed it as harsh, while most viewed it as necessary. They felt safer with someone to hold their hands. Neji had no thoughts on it, but tried his best to soothe Sasuke's obvious distaste towards the current Hokage to a reasonable irritation. Speaking of Sasuke, thoughts of the obsidian eyed boy returned him to the current conversation.

"G-gomen, Neji-kun," stammered Hinata as she looked at her lap, "H-he did stop b-b-by Sakura-chan's place late last n-night." Neji blinked. "How late?"

Sakura laughed softly to herself as she answered him.

"_Too_ late."

**Flashback-previous night**

_There was a knock at the door. Sakura, still awake even at that late hour, went to the door after hanging up from a long conversation with Ino over the phone. Cautiously, she took the kunai from the weapon holster that she'd sewn into most of her clothing, including her nightwear. Concealing the knife, she turned the doorknob and was stunned to see a tall, dark-eyed Uchiha standing at her door._

"_Sasu-"_

"_Sakura, can I come in?"_

"_O-Of course!" she hissed as she took him by the sleeve and hauled him inside, shutting the door silently behind them, "Do you have any idea what time it is! You're risking rank and face out there!" Sasuke didn't answer but allowed his teammate to drag him into the kitchen. She poured him some peach juice and them poured some for herself. With a calculating look, Sakura leaned over the counter in her kitchen to look the boy over._

"_Why **were** you out this late?"_

"_Needed some fresh air."_

"_Sleep over at Neji's?"_

_Sasuke turned so red so fast Sakura thought he might explode. After getting himself back to his normal pale self, Sasuke answered her. "I was at Neji's, but not for a sleep over."_

"_Uh-huh," came the response through a grin._

"_Sakura," said the irritated teenager, "we were with his **father**, discussing-"_

_He was cut off by the knock on Sakura's door. The two ninjas tensed but Sakura once again rose to the door, kunai up her sleeve as she turned the knob. An ANBU stood in the doorway, a monkey's mask on her face. _

"_Haruno Sakura," she stated in a more-than-orderly tone of voice, "Have you heard anything suspicious? There was an odd character hanging out around a noodle stand before he disappeared. The owner of the shop reported that he thought the man might be in possession of some classified information on two missing-nins." Sakura's throat almost tightened, but being a medical expert, she controlled her actions with toned perfection and simply shook her head. _

"_No-but I think I'll go check the locks on my doors and windows. Thank you very much." The woman nodded and was gone in a puff of smoke. Sakura shut the door behind her._

_For a while, neither of them spoke._

_Then, Sakura had to break the silence. _

"_So... what did you really come here for?" _

_Sasuke barely looked up. "I needed a place to hide while I lost her-this was closest." _

_Sakura almost laughed. "Sasuke, it's so late, and sneaking around noodle stands doesn't make you any less suspicious. That ANBU could have taken you in if she thought you were a real threat!" Her voice had been rising slightly, and at the word 'threat', it almost turned into a shout. Sasuke looked at the floor. Sakura sensed that there was something else he'd come for. Suddenly, the ANBU's words came back to her._

"_... Sasuke ..."_

_The black-haired boy didn't move._

"_... what did you find out about the missing-nins?"_

_The tension that had been building suddenly doubled._

"_Sasuke-"_

"_Don't." He stood, taking out the pictures he'd taken. "Don't say anything. Thanks for the juice." He went towards the door when Sakura stood in front of him, ready to protest. Sasuke took her hand gently and placed the paper in them. Sakura knew that whatever was on the paper wasn't good, but she never expected to see what was written on the slip, or the pictures of two boys. She fell against the wall. Sasuke went out the door. Sakura heard him take off with a soft flitting noise, but she couldn't move. She could barely breathe. _

_The paper read: 'Wanted: Gaara of the Sand and Uzumaki Naruto. Fifty-million for their return alive, forty-million for return ... upon death.' _

**Flashback-present**

Neji looked incredulous. "Why did that make you feel so bad? They're renegade ninjas, both capable of doing great damage." Sakura looked at the ground. Hinata didn't speak, either. Lee was emitting an uncomfortable air, shifting to look at the ground with Sakura. Neji's eyes narrowed.

'_What's with all of them?'_

"I don't know," said Sakura slowly, looking at her hands now, "during the chuunin exams ... he seemed like a normal guy. He laughed, talked with Hinata-chan, talked and laughed with all of us ... like he belonged. But there was also something about him that didn't fit. He belonged, but he didn't-am I making sense?"

"Not really."

"Exactly."

Now Neji was royally confused.

"What are you talking about? You're happy about making no sense at all."

"Well ..." she sighed. "It doesn't need to make sense-it just feels right."

Hinata, who hadn't spoken the entire time, looked up at her cousin with something like confidence in herself. "Naruto-kun doesn't deserve to have money on his head. He isn't the kind of person who would do such things without a good reason. I can't believe that he was the one who killed the last Hokage, and I won't believe that he recently attacked the current Hokage." For a moment, Neji was surprised to hear her speak clearly without stutters, and it stung him to think of how much stronger his cousin had grown. It was a good burt, but at the same time, he didn't want Hinata to change. With a start, he realized that he'd contradicted himself. Turning his head to where Sakura's voice had come from, he smiled lopsidedly.

"Forget what I said-I think I know how you feel."

"Really?"

"Yeah ..." He finished his drink and Lee's hands took the outstretched cup. "Thanks, Lee," Neji said as he stood. Lee's surprised voice met him. "How could you tell it was me?"

"Sakura and Hinata don't have bandages from overexerting themselves during training, do they?"

Lee's sheepish grin greeted those who could see it, and Neji smiled, heading towards the door with one hand on the wall. "Oh," said Hinata from her seat, "w-where are you going, N-Neji-kun?" The older Hyuuga smiled to himself-her stutter was back.

"To look for Sasuke."

"Where are you going to start?"

"Oh, I think I know where he'll be ..."

A few minutes later, Neji had made his way from Sakura's house to training area 32. He let the earth and wind guide him towards the stream that divided training areas 32 and 35, and sat down beside the lone figure already seated by the stream's rushing body. He sat next to him, certainly close but not touching. He smiled, but said nothing. His presence was needed, and no thanks were said. None were asked for.

And Sasuke wouldn't have had it any other way.

After a while, Neji broke the silence. "You're thinking about Uzumaki Naruto."

There was something of a tensing beside him as Neji felt the other boy through the air. It was really weird-it was almost like he could see Sasuke tense at the statement, but instead he _felt_ it, could hear the tightened breath and cringe. He could feel the breath forming in Sasuke's throat and a response formulating behind his furrowed brow.

"What makes you say that? Why would I be thinking about someone with a bounty on their heads?" Neji leaned back, letting out a breath and looking-well, facing-toward the sky.

"Maybe because you like him."

"I don't even know him."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "You used to."

Sasuke frowned. What was he getting at? "We were five."

"You were in love."

The silence returned for a moment, and then Sasuke laughed. "What a mature little boy I was-falling in love before I could spell the word. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard from you."

"Fish heads."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow at the boy. "That is the most **random** thing you've ever said."

"Thank you."

The Hyuuga activated his Byakugan, and turned to look at Sasuke. There they sat, in the prime of their lives, white eyes meeting black, confusion and pain meeting understanding and compassion and something else that Sasuke didn't catch as the emotion was drained from Neji's eyes along with the white hue. The brief moment shared seemed to prompt Sasuke's next question.

"Do you love me?"

Neji shut his eyes. "I thought we agreed there isn't anything to say on that topic." Sasuke frowned. He himself tried to think of an appropriate response, and when nothing came to mind, he decided that Neji was right.

It was the Uchiha who leaned over and put his head on the taller boy's shoulder as he blinked half-lidded eyes at the stream.

It was the Hyuuga who gently pulled the chin of the shorter boy's face up so that he could watch the unseeing eyes as they drained of their color again.

Leaning forwards, Sasuke caught Neji's lips in a chaste and fleeting kiss, pulling away with an odd expression. The black-haired boy offered Sasuke a slight smirk when he leaned back down to capture the other boy's lips again, and he turned all of his attentions to Sasuke. As the raven-haired boy looked into the sky, faint thoughts of blue eyes drifted through his mind.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

"Naruto?"

The blonde looked up from his ramen. They had been training since the early morning, just like yesterday and the days before that. They were breaking for lunch, Aki and Taro were off in the forest finding some poor animal to eat. That left Naruto and Gaara to eat whatever was around-which wasn't much, hence Naruto had summoned an instant cup ramen and Gaara had done the same. They had been eating in silence up until now, and the blonde looked up.

"Mm?"

"..." Frustrated, Gaara wondered what he had been thinking of. "... nn ... ! ..."

Naruto, totally used to Gaara's temporary brain lapses, finished his bite and started naming off possibilities of what he could have been thinking of.

"Ramen ... lunch ... uh, merging ... Aki and Taro ... training ... The mist country ... Konoha ..."

Suddenly, it came back to Gaara-"Itachi's brother."

Naruto looked up, slightly confused. "Sasuke-baka?"

"Watch out for him."

Naruto blinked. "Is he that strong?" Confusion scribbled itself over his face. "I thought Itachi-nii said he was real weak ..."

"That's not what I meant." Even more confusion squeezed its way onto Naruto's visage.

"Then what _do_ you mean?"

Gaara looked at his lap. "... Naruto is mine, right?" The blonde nodded automatically. "Gaara-chan belongs to Naruto, and Naruto belongs to Gaa-chan."

Satisfied, Gaara continued with his lunch and said no more.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

"Have you noticed anything weird about Uchiha and Hyuuga?"

_Click_.

"Sasuke and Neji?"

_Click_.

"Yeah."

_Click_.

"Not really-why?"

_Click_.

"No reason-that's a five-stone capture for me."

_Click_, shuffle.

"No reason? Why bring it up?"

_Click_.

"Because they're ... I guess it's just a feeling."

_Click_.

"Whatever. Women are so troublesome."

_Click_, shuffle.

"Damn."

_Click_.

"Now that you mention it, I guess Sasuke has been acting a little more spaced-out than usual. He's beginning to remind me of Iruka-sensei."

_Click_.

"Oh! I almost forgot-you and I have to give Tsunade-sama our opinions on when the next Chuunin exams should be participated in."

_Click_, shuffle.

"I suppose. We'll talk about it when we get there."

_Click_, _click_, shuffle, _click_.

Tenmari crossed her arms. "You _are_ good at this. Let's go see the Hokage now."

Shikamaru only yawned as they cleared the Go board.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Kakashi sat in Itachi's room, reading his little orange novel. However, upon seeing the man, one could feel that something was off.

"You're quiet."

The older man didn't reply. Sasuke shut the door behind him. Really, Kakashi wasn't even looking at the book. He was looking _over_ the book at the sleeping Uchiha across from him, sleeping on his bed. Sasuke took a seat. For a while, he considered asking his sensei about Itachi, and then decided against it. He frowned.

'_Uchiha Itachi. Wielder of the Mangekyo Shiringan. Murderer ... of his own family.'_ A scowl made its way onto his face. The familiar fire built up in him again, and he welcomed the flame, anger and hate were friends he'd known long.

'_I hate you. Uchiha Itachi-you are the reason I became an avenger.'_

Memories of his childhood flashed by-if one could call such times a childhood. While most boys played games, he was honing early skills. While most boys worried about whether or not they looked cool, he was worrying about whether or not he'd done enough training. When most boys began to look at girls, he began to look for rivals to spar with. When most boys got girlfriends, he got special coaching from his teacher and wherever else he could find it. And it was all the fault of this man.

'_I hate you. You took my childhood away. You're my brother-my aniki. And I hate you.'_

Then something came to him. He could have easily refused that childhood, could have pushed away the life of avenger... and at the same time, denying the path that he'd chosen would have meant living with Itachi's last words and acknowledging himself as a weakling. Sasuke wasn't weak now-he knew that. Even Kakashi acknowledged that. But Itachi refused to. There would forever be a rift between them, even if Sasuke's hate subsided, even if he forgave the other man, there would always be a great distance between the two. Obsidian eyes fell upon the sleeping man, for a moment reflecting the confusion that was welling in his mind and heart.

'_Aniki ... I hate you. You killed mother and father, and you still call me weak. But ...'_

"You don't hate him." Sasuke didn't even look at his teacher as he shook his head absently. Kakashi put his book down. "You make the most interesting face while you think."

"... shut up."

"I've been nothing but quiet this whole time," claimed Kakashi innocently as he slid closer to Sasuke, studying the boy out of the corner of his eye. Sasuke hadn't moved. Neither had Itachi, but for different reasons.

"You're a lot like him, you know."

"I know."

"You both attract men who scorn their families."

"You scorn your family?"

"My father, really," said Kakashi softly, looking at Itachi now with a lazy gaze, "and Neji dislikes his family." Sasuke nodded.

"He's a good ninja."

"I think I love him."

"How's the sex?"

Sasuke fell out of his chair. "W-What gave you the idea ..."

Kakashi grinned at him. "You were getting too serious." Sasuke offered him a frown as he regained his composure.

"And how's _your_ sex life?"

"Sleeping."

Sasuke won the award for having the ability to turn beet-red from his neck to the tips of his hair in 0.5 seconds.

After regaining his composure (and clearing his mind of any images of Itachi in that way ... at **all**), Sasuke asked a serious question.

"Did you love him?"

The silver-haired jounin looked at the bed as the covers rose and fell slightly. "I still do."

"How long ..."

"Probably since we met. I was introducing him to Icha Icha Paradise, at the time, the center of my universe." Sasuke sent him an unnoticed glance that clearly asked if it wasn't _still_ the center of his universe. "He was leaning over my shoulder, and we were real close, and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then he made some lame excuse to run off somewhere. And I think that's when I first felt odd around him." Sasuke nodded. His teacher turned to him. "What about Neji?"

"I ... don't know." Kakashi could sense some trouble behind his voice. "Is there something wrong, Sasuke?" The short-haired Uchiha leaned his head back.

"I don't know. I guess. I think so. Maybe."

"You sure are talking a lot," Kakashi observed. Sasuke slid him a glare. "I'll stop." The other man fell silent, and Sasuke revealed his dilemma.

"I was ... infatuated with someone before Neji."

"Oooh, and now you're thinking about that person again?" A nod confirmed this. "Who was it?" Kakashi frowned. "Was it a girl or a boy?" Sasuke shook his head, groaning. "Why am I telling you this?"

"Because I might be able to help."

The student stared up at his teacher for a moment, and for a moment, their gazes were serious, regarding each other as something than just student a teacher. And then it broke, and life continued, Sasuke returning to being Sasuke, and Kakashi returning to being Kakashi.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi's eye widened only a fraction for only a moment, and then he sighed. "Sasuke, there's something you should know..."

"The fifty million?"

"... there's something else," Kakashi said, though he looked surprised that he'd known about the new money placed on the blonde's head. Sasuke turned a questioning gaze on his teacher.

"Yes?"

Kakashi gave Sasuke a long look. "I don't know much about Neji, and I don't know all there is to know about you. I do know that your brother would hit you over the head with a chair if he could see you now. He told me once that no Uchiha ever backs down from a challenge." Sasuke looked confused. "What does that have to do with me?"

"You're confused," stated Kakashi, "You're having trouble deciding whether or not you're really in love with Neji. It's a definite challenge for you to decide who's in your heart-and Uchihas never back out of a challenge." Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment and then he smirked.

"Hn. You sound corny."

Kakashi looked at the sleeping man across from them and he shut his eye.

**ShortFlashback**

_Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "You sound corny." _

_Itachi shrugged as their lips met. "So I'm corny,"_

**EndShortFlashback**

Sasuke, sensing that their conversation was over, slipped out of the hospital room, passing Hinata on the way out.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Fate found Sasuke sitting on a rooftop, not far from the Hyuuga house hold. In fact, he was sitting on a house only four roofs away from the Hyuuga's house. Fate found a member of the Hyuuga house sitting next to him. Fate, being an interesting character, decided to cause trouble somewhere else for the moment, and left Sasuke sitting on top of Neji's house, in the rain, with his cousin.

Hinata had found him sitting alone on the roofs after she was heading back from Itachi's lunch time checkup. If her counting was correct, she and Sakura had been keeping track of his health for over three months since the attack on the hokage now. A fourth of a year.

She sighed, looking out over the drenched Konoha. "It looks so peaceful."

Surprised, Sasuke slid a glance to the girl out of the corner of his eyes. Maybe it was the rain, or maybe it was the fact that it was a Sunday. Maybe it was the fact that she was having the same thoughts as him, or maybe it was that they didn't have the same thoughts at all. Maybe it was the tears falling from the sky, or maybe it was the promise that even though it was pouring where they were, somewhere else it was as dry as a desert. Maybe it was the smile on her face, or the water running over her cheeks. Maybe it wasn't anything at all.

Sasuke didn't know what it was. But it made him smile.

"I guess it does."

And it did.

Through the rain, one could see a little girl with an umbrella skipping along the wet sidewalk, laughing as the rain cascaded down from the heavens and soaking her feet. The umbrella kept her head dry, but her shoes and knees were damp. After a few more steps, she moved the umbrella and let the sky's tears dribble themselves all over her face. Hinata smiled. Sasuke watched.

After the little girl, a pair of slightly older boys came around the corner, running. They ran past the little girl and stopped under an overhang to shake out their hair and laugh at each other, seeing how their companion was drenched through to the socks. The two boys grinned and played, trying to push the other out into the rain. After a few seconds, the little girl made it to where they were standing. The little boys stopped shoving and grinned at her, and she laughed at them. They all laughed as they stood under the over hang. Hinata smiled. Sasuke watched.

Two more people walked along the street and stopped under the over hang, a woman and a man, who stopped to kiss the small children on the foreheads before hording them all out of the over hang and towards a house. Hinata smiled. The corners of Sasuke's mouth twitched upwards at the sight, and then the family disappeared into the house and was gone.

The purple-haired kunoichi smiled in spite of the rain and looked at the little house into which they'd disappeared. As an afterthought on the family, she said softly to herself, "I'd like to get married some day."

"I would, too."

Hinata smiled at her companion warmly through the rain. "To Neji-nii-sama?"

Sasuke nodded, and for some reason, blush didn't rise to his cheeks. It was a fact-one he didn't need to be embarassed about-and he smiled to himself.

"Yes. I would like that a lot."

Hinata touched his shoulder and offered him the brightest smile he'd ever recieved in the rain. And Sasuke returned it.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Naruto collapsed next to the red-haried teenager, letting out an over-exggerated breath as he fell on the other boy's shoulder. Gaara made a small noise of discomfort, and Naruto adjusted himself so he wasn't smooshing his friend. '_Smooshing isn't a word,_' Gaara thought distantally as he and Naruto curled together for the night. /_So/_ thought the blonde as he began to tumble into dreams/_it's not like there's anything against new words .../_ The thoughts faded and both boys tumbled into their dreams, Aki and Taro close by, not asleep but watchful.

As they dreamed, their demons came alive and occupied their lower consciousness to talk better. The Kyuubi sensed Aki and Taro and then disreguarded them as threats, Shukaku doing the same as they 'faced' each other.

'_**They're only a few months away.'**_

_**/I know, I know/ hissed the fox/don't remind me./**_

'_**I won't if you don't forget.'**_

_**/I don't forget./**_

'_**You act as if you did-the amount of training they're going through isn't nearly enough to prepare them.' **_

_**/Then we'll have to bring it up a notch, beginning tomorrow./**_

The badger didn't respond. The kitsune listened with paitence.

'_**... the merging ...'**_

A forlorn echo rang with Shukaku's voice.

'_**... will it hurt?'**_

The kitsune shut its eyes sagely.

_**/Death is not pain-death is salvation./**_

The night drew over the country of Sand, and the demons fell silent as the moon disappeared behind clouds.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

The blonde got up, stretching his arms over his head. "Is it time to go already?"

_**/Yes./**_

"Man," muttered Naruto as he watched Aki blink its eyes open at him, "I was just getting used to the desert, too." Gaara's arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders and the red head whispered, "We can take the desert with us." Naruto's smile greeted him and he returned it, pressing their foreheads close for a moment before breaking away and rousing Taro from her sleep.

Within minutes, they were ready to go. Sighing, Naruto summoned a bit of his chakara and he slipped into the tear in reality that lead him and the other three to the Stone country. Once they stepped through, the Hat Trick jutsu dropped and time continued naturally. (1)

The dark, damp earth felt great beneath their shoes, and the four scouted out a suitable place to stay. As soon as they were situated, Naruto and Gaara dropped Aki and Taro at the site to guard it and went off into the wild to train themselves in chakara control and enhancement.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Makita glanced at the window. How long had it been? It felt like years. He looked down at the two kunai in his hands-two names sketched into their handles, two names etched into the room's wall. Two smiling faces that, for almost years, hadn't shown themselves in the room that he stood. With a moment of unmasked emotion, Makita wondered why he felt so freely about the absence of the two demons they'd taken in. Then, glaring again, he chucked the knives into the wall through the names, and left. His task done, he shut the door behind the room and made his way back to the main chamber.

The leader of the Akatsuki looked at his fingernails as Makita rejoined the small circle of those present. "Is it done?"

"Yes."

Yuki stood abruptly, and looked around the room. His silence was eerie, and to say the least, his gaze was penetrating each and every one of their bowed heads.

"My dear family," he said with an icy calm voice, words like gaseous ice, frost coating his every breath, "I have grown impaitent with all this stalling. For the past months, we have waited for Uchiha Itachi's notice. When none came at the first week, it was nothing. I assumed you would keep your eyes open, and inform me where our two youngest members and our older member moved." The twins jerked-everyone saw it, even with their heads bowed-and Yuki's smile widened slightly. "It's not your fault," he began icily, "however, I expect nothing more than perfection in the next mission you recieve." The heads bobbed twice, and Yuki went on.

"Of course, Itachi had to have organized the attack on Konoha-" his smile widened again, "-and he will pay when he returns for not first informing me."

"It is my displeasure," he said softly, smoothly, "to tell you all that Uchiha Itachi has been captured."

There were internal gasps, but no one dared let their breath escape them or their surprise show. Carefully, Yuki observed his men and the twins with a slight frown. "He is being kept in Konoha, and will probably be tortured. Of course, we will retrieve him and the two other members."

Ryusho's thoughts, along with everyone else's, were something along the lines of 'but there's something else'.

Yuki hadn't mentioned what he was going to do with Naruto and Gaara for not keeping in contact with the Akatsuki, or what Itachi would face for getting captured by such a strong enemy as the leaf. Ryusho had some pretty nasty thoughts, torture being the most subtle, and almost shuddered, but Yuki chose that exact moment to direct his gaze directly at them, and his eyes seemed to freeze everything in its place. The sharp golden abysses were narrowed and their gaze was a thousand needles paralyzing the bodies before him as he spoke with a sliver of malicious joy.

"The demons have defected their containers from the Akatsuki-they are traitors."

His smile twisted into a grin, and Makita winced.

"They must be eliminated."

(A/N: after not writing the Akatsuki guys so long, I sorta forgot how they were ... -;; We'll see more of them next chapter)

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

For two months, the demons drilled their hosts in chakara control and enhancement, and slipped in some accuracy training as well. Then, it was time to leave again. They went from the Stone to the Cloud, and again trained for two months, this time in stealth and stamina. The different terrains were turning out to be useful in ways that the none of them had even considered. There was natural harsh conditions-rain, wind, sleet, harsh sun (not as strong as the deserts,) and sometimes a haze that felt physically depressing.

To both boy's surprise, the fox and the badger talked more and more during those months, and then as the month drew to a close, their voices stopped. Naruto and Gaara trained on, but the silence began to grow. They were afraid that they'd already merged when Kyuubi irately told them that he and Shukaku were discussing things privately. The two boys had hid laughter at how the nine-tailed-fox was beginning to sound like a disgrunteled mother planning a surprise party for them. The Kyuubi had grunted and refused to speak for another week.

The boys were surprised when one week, the training stopped.

It was just another day that Naruto and Gaara woke up, washed, and stretched. They were about to begin the daily routine that had been drilled into them when two voices stopped them.

_**/Naruto./**_

'_**Gaara.'**_

The two boys, both seventeen and a half, froze and looked at each other.

_/Kaa-san? W-What's up/ _asked Naruto nervously-it had been almost a week since the Kyuubi had last spoken to them. Sensing the alarm in the boy's posture, the badger and dragon edged closer to the demon containers, cautiously but comfortingly. Gaara looked on-edge, which was surprising for someone who usually spent the entire day with one expression on his face.

**_/No more training. Not for a whole week./_** Naruto frowned. "But why _not_?" he whined aloud.

The seal on his stomach flashed through his shirt, and Gaara's eyes widened and he grabbed at his head, jaw falling slack as immeasurable pain shot through him. Aki and Taro jumped several feet back in alarm as Gaara let out a howl like a wild animal. Naruto gripped his midsection with the same kind of gasp as they fell to the ground, white-hot chakara pulsing through their veins.

Suddenly, it was gone, and they lay on the ground, staring at nothing and panting.

_/What .../_

_**/No more training. Not for a whole week./**_

"Did ... did you do that ... to Gaa-chan?" asked Naruto weakly, blinking his eyes heavily before their gazes connected. **_/No. And I did not 'do' that to you either. It was the seal./_** Naruto gasped as it throbbed, although painlessly, and he felt himself recoil as his body recalled the amount of pain that it'd just been put through. Gaara shut his eyes, turning his cheek into the dirt with a heavy grunt, teeeth clenched tightly and arms around his head.

Naruto cried out and rolled onto his back, curling into a ball before he flopped out on the ground, gasping for breath. "Wh ... what's happening?"

_**/The seals. They're beginning to absorb us. In a week's time, we won't be able to resist them any longer, and we'll merge./**_

Shukaku didn't speak to Gaara, although the Kyuubi projected its thoughts to him in the same way that it did with Naruto. The red haired boy gasped and rolled over, panting and holding a hand to his tattoo. "Why ... didn't you tell us?"

**_/That you would be in pain/_** "Yes!"**_ /How could we have known it would cause you this much pain/ _**the fox grumbled in responce, though Naruto could tell the kitsune's underlying tone was one of guilt. He instantally felt bad about making the fox feel guilty, and dragged himself into a sitting position, panting and shaking the dirt from his hair.

"... no more training," he said finally, as Gaara coughed and cleared his throat beside him, "we won't train anymore. But why?" The redhead used Naruto's arm as a pillow, and the blonde reached a hand up to the tattoo, tracing it with gentle strokes.**_ /It would be too much on your bodies. I knew there would be some pain before the merging, and we will try to absorb as much of it as we can from now on, but some of it will still seep through and hurt you. While we're holding off the pain, you must relax your bodies and mentally prepare for the aspect of accepting us./_** Gaara's eyes had locked with Naruto's, both shocked orbs widening with every sentance.

"You... you've been absorbing pain for us?" the red head asked finally. Shukaku did not respond, and so Kyuubi responded for him/Yes, we have./ Naruto felt tears at his eyes, and his body shook. "T-that ... that's so ..." Gaara knew it was just his imagination and cooincidence that it began to rain at the same time Naruto's tears began to fall-it couldn't have been that it was that the clouds were crying _with_ Naruto. Aki and Taro, both originating of sand, hissed at the coming of the rain and dove for cover underground as Taro dug a large hole in the ground. The blonde grabbed hold of Gaara's arm and tugged him closer, eyes squinting as he tried to hold back the tears that were mingling with the rain to spill down his cheeks. "That's not fair-it's not your fault ... you shouldn't have to g-get hurt like that ..."

The fox was rather surprised as Naruto cried into Gaara's sleeve. **_/Hey-kit, stop crying ... come on, don't cry/_** it coaxed, trying to stop the tears as his container buried himself in the other boy's shirt. Gaara's arm wrapped around Naruto's shoulder and Shukaku finally spoke.

'_**We abosorb the pain so that you can smile and don't have to feel this way-so stop crying and start smiling.'**_

Naruto was so shocked that he did stop crying for a moment to stare at Gaara's head incrediously.

_**/Shukaku! That was hardly encouraging of you./**_

'_**I didn't hear you doing any better.'**_

The two demons were pulled out of their arguing by the sound of soft laughter. They glanced at their containers and jumped to see them both laughing softly with each other. Shukaku frowned to itself. **_'What's so funny?'_**

"Nothing-you two just sound so funny." The fox hid a grin from Naruto**_. /Oh, so first we have to baby sit you, then we take pain for you, and now we're funny. I see how it is./_** The laughter developed into soft chuckles and Gaara fell back in the dirt and grass and looked up at the sky.

"The rain's not going away," he observed.

Naruto looked over at him, the fox and badger squabbling at each other again in the back of their minds.

"Huh? What's weird about that?"

Gaara frowned and looked at Naruto shyly. "I ... I think it should be sunny when you smile."

Naruto blinked for a moment and then sent him a smile. The red head returned it and the blonde crawled over to hug Gaara, arms encircling his torso and pulling their bodies close, a flush rising to Gaara's face as the contact brought warmth and something else that made his stomach drop out and his heart stop for a moment. The blue-eyed blonde seemed to notice this and only hugged him tighter. The rain drenched them thourghly, and Naruto rested his head in the crook of Gaara's neck. The red head felt his arms come up around Naruto's shoulders, and he turned them over so that he was lying on top of the blonde. Naruto blinked at their new position but quickly disreguarded it for the pleasure of doing nothing that didn't feel right, wrapping his arms tighter around Gaara's torso. The fair-skinned boy looked at Naruto's shoulder for a moment before bringing his mouth down ontop of the damp skin, lips stopping just above the skin and tongue peeking out to remove the droplets of rain from his exposed skin. "H-Hey," protested the blonde with a giggle. Gaara stopped, looking at Naruto with curiosity. "You giggle?" Naruto stuck out his tongue. "No, I don't." The red head just bent back down to Naruto's neck and cautiously pressed his lips down, running his tongue over the skin and he felt Naruto jump at the new touch. "Gaa-chan, that tickles," Naruto protested, laughing as the rain spilled down over his face in tiny droplets. Gaara continued to kiss and lick Naruto's neck, and then he stopped and looked at the blonde's face. Naruto came off of a laugh and held his breath in, eyes widening as he realized how close they were. "Gaara? You ok?" The red head frowned. "I ... I feel weird."

"Me, too." Their foreheads met. Naruto shut his eyes. "I don't know why," he said softly, almost whispering. If Gaara had been any further away, he wouldn't have heard the boy speak. "I don't know what I feel-it's not sad, it's kinda like happy, but more happy than just happy, y'know?" Gaara nodded carefully, trying to stay on the same wavelength as the rain trickled down on his shirt and splattered against the skin around his neck. His hair was getting damp, and it was beginning to hang in his face. The blonde's hair, on the other hand, was as spiky as ever. Gaara wondered breifly why it stayed spiky through the rain, and then returned to Naruto to find that the blue eyes were staring up at his jade green ones with some hint of a new kind of emotion behind them.

"Gaa-chan?"

"Yeah?"

Gaara nodded, wondering why his heart was going about a hundred miles an hour, and why he couldn't think straight. Naruto's big, blue eyes blinked up at him and then, leaning forwards ...

(A/N: oh, what a lovely place to put a cliff hanger! Of course, responces to things like that include:)

response donated by blue 1/2:_ if you stop it here, by the kages, I'll tear out your organs with a rusty spoon and dangle your remains in front of a starved pack of piranahs ..._

(A/N: ... which is why I've decided to go on and write more of the story.) (sweatdrops and flees)

Gaara nodded, wondering why his heart was going about a hundred miles an hour, and why he couldn't think straight. Naruto's big, blue eyes blinked up at him and then, leaning forwards ...

"... I'm wet."

Gaara nodded, wondering why he felt disappointed. "Me, too."

They got up and went to find a shelter, settling for a cave by a river just a few miles away from the camp they'd made last night. Aki and Taro followed their scent and made themselves useful along the way, gathering food and depositing it in the cave like rent when they bounded in. Naruto jumped out of his shirt and his pants and before Gaara could realize where he was going, the blonde had bounded back out of the cave stark naked and dove into the waters. Curiously, Gaara followed him after removing his own clothing and leaving it up to Aki and Taro to dry them off.

The two swam around, ducking under the water now and then, splashing at the rocks and chasing each other's hair as it flowed every direction in the cool waters. Naruto laughed, even though the rain stubbornly poured itself down, trying to seem intimidating, and failing miserably as Gaara cracked a smile back at the blonde. The red head tackled Naruto and they fell to the bottom of the pond, both of them letting out huge bubbles and watching them race towards the surface with laughter in their eyes. After another moment, they followed the bubbles up to the air, breaking the surface with two splashes. Still laughing, Naruto swam off to the side of the water and held onto a rock with one hand while he pushed his bangs out of his face with the other. Gaara joined him, though he used his free hand to mess up Naruto's hair again. "Hey," whined the blonde and moved to fix his hair again, "don't do that!"

"Why not? It's just gonna get messed up again when you go underwater." Naruto frowned. "But I'm not going back in the wa-"

SPLASH.

Gaara pulled himself up ontop of the water and walked across its shaky surface towards the camp. Naruto surfaced for air, glaring at Gaara's naked backside as the red head stalked back towards the cave and dry clothing. "Gaara! That was mean!"

"Your clothes are dry."

"Gaara! I'm not gonna forgive you for that!"

"I have ramen."

"Ramen!"

All anger forgotten, the blonde jumped out of the water and dashed across its surface to land and then inside the cave where a warm towel was draped around his shoulders. The teenager thanked Taro as the brown dragon nodded and went back to where Aki sat curled by a medium-sized fire that didn't seem to emit any smoke. (A/N: don't get trivial w/me about smoke. Just go with it.)

The two sat down, Naruto sedated with ramen and Gaara's head on his bare shoulder. After getting an entire cup of ramen down, Naruto put on his boxers and pants, and sat back down with a new cup of ramen he summoned. Gaara returned his head to Naruto's shoulder, and for a while they sat in silence, watching Aki and Taro sleep next to the warm fire.

"Gaa-chan?"

"...?"

"I still feel weird."

"... me, too."

Naruto turned to face the other boy, and frowned. Since when did he feel the urge to kiss the other boy's lips? He'd only before kissed wounds that didn't heal quickly ... so what was different? He put down his ramen, and frowned at the other boy. Gaara wondered what' he'd done, when Naruto shut his eyes and leaned forwards, and this time, their lips connected. Softly, Gaara kissed back, though he wasn't sure how-it wasn't something either boy practiced, but the soft contact was like

"Gaara?"

The red head blinked, looking slightly dazed. "Yes?"

"The weird feelin's goin' away ..." Gaara nodded and he leaned forward to capture Naruto's lips again, his hand molding around Naruto's shoulder. Naruto felt ... well, he didn't know what he felt-he didn't know how he felt-he just knew, as Gaara's other arm drew around his waist and pulled them closer together, that this was how he _always_ wanted to feel, for ever and ever ...

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

After the boys had gone to sleep, Kyuubi and Shukaku faced each other again.

_**/I knew this would happen./**_

'_**What else could have been? They spent so much time with each other, and from the start, they knew each other's likes and dislikes.'**_

**_/And they were almost opposites personality-wise/ _**Kyuubi mused, **_/the kit being too loud and happy for anyone's good, and the brat being so quiet and lonley that it seemed like he didn't exist./_**

'_**Naruto changed that.' **_

Kyuubi's feral grin was honed to something like a soft smirk.**_ /He does change many things./_**

'_**...'**_

For another moment, they reguarded each other in silence.

_**/One week./**_

'_**I know. I can feel the seal beginning. This week will be the last time we can do anything for these brats, so we might as well make ourselves useful and absosrb some of the seal's effects.'**_

_**/The kit doesn't like it./**_

'_**It's not his choice, and he can't stop it if he wanted to.'**_

_**/I know./**_

The silence returned, and this time, neither broke it.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

_**end chapter**_

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

(1) The **hat trick** explination is a few chapters back, but just to remind everyone, it's a jutsu that tears the fabric of time and allows one or more to pass through a tear in reality to go wherever they want without delay. For instance, Naruto could go from the very southern border of Konoha to the tip of Hokage mountain and back within one second and appear to not have moved. Those with Shiringan would see him flicker, but they wouldn't think anything of it. Itachi has been the only one to learn this besides Naruto and Gaara.

Hey, I have time to respond to my reviews! Yay!

**crimsonnightmare: I love you. You respond to every chapter, and you give me so much support ... snivel ...**

**Dual Rasengan: Thank you, sorry you had to wait so long! And gosh, you're kinda on the right track, but I'd give away too much if I said what you guessed wrong ... -**

**Mihen-chan abumaroo: Sorry, but I looked at it, and TenmariSasuke would have to be a one-shot, and I hate writing one-shote ... sorry! (bows)**

**Silver Spell: Yes, I call this a short chapter. - Yes, I can't wait to write the merge! It'll be so ... difficult ... Yes, books are good as Anime and manga. It's too bad no one puts these kind of elements into them, though ... T-T oh well.**

**TFI-Muse: T-T I haven't updated in so long-I'm sorry you had to wait this long! (bows) I'm not pressuring myself, I'm just slow, so ... uh .. go me!**

**Ruby Heart: I trying to write more NejiSasu, but it's hard cauz I don't have much to go on... but I'll try to keep going!**

Next chapter: MERGING! Yaaaay Merging-

Please review and tell me whatcha thought of my 'first kiss' thing. It was kinda sappy, but it came to me at 5:00 this morning ... T-T

FCATs begin today, so I won't even be working on this for at least 2 days. Gomen!


	13. Merging

**Chapter 13: Merging**

MergingYay, merging! (from timmy turner) FINALLY, it's here. And after all that time, and I really think the whole merging part sucks. T-T I tried my best, but this was it. Oh well. I hope the rest of the chap. makes up for it. I think I'll start off with a little re-cap of the last passage of ch. 12. Response to reviews at bottom of page! Thank you reviewers!

**Disclaim**: don't own NarutoI DO own Aki and Taro, the badger and dragon. Mine. I also own any OCs (ie: almost the entire Akatsuki) that I can't name now, and possibly the OCs in this chap. But that's it.

**Warnings**: uh ... merging? badly written? some shonen-ai, etc ... I know there's some shonen ai in here, so any guy-guy stuff in here has been warned about. -

The time scheme is confusing, so I'll put little notes at the top of the page as hints. - Talk 2 U at the bottom of the page! (disappears down the rabbit hole)

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

After the boys had gone to sleep, Kyuubi and Shukaku faced each other again.

_**/I knew this would happen./**_

_**'What else could have been? They spent so much time with each other, and from the start, they knew each other's likes and dislikes.'**_

**_/And they were almost opposites personality-wise/ _**Kyuubi mused, **_/the kit being too loud and happy for anyone's good, and the brat being so quiet and lonely that it seemed like he didn't exist./_**

_**'Naruto changed that.' **_

Kyuubi's feral grin was honed to something like a soft smirk.**_ /He does change many things./_**

For another moment, they regarded each other in silence.

_**/One week./**_

_**'I know. I can feel the seal beginning. This week will be the last time we can do anything for these brats, so we might as well make ourselves useful and absorb some of the seal's effects.'**_

_**/The kit doesn't like it./**_

_**'It's not his choice, and he can't stop it if he wanted to.'**_

_**/I know./**_

The silence returned, and this time, neither broke it.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

It was the first morning. The first of the five normal mornings they had left.

Gaara woke to the smell of Naruto's hair. They'd slept side by side, closer because of the cold and closer because of the kiss. Closer seemed better, so they were closer. And that was that.

'_Nothing changed,'_ Gaara thought, _'we kiss. But I don't know anything changed.'_

They really hadn't done anything different before. And so it was, and neither boy questioned it.

The day was excellent, and they decided to play with Aki and Taro. The first half of the morning was spent playing advanced tag (without weapons) and the second half swimming in a lake. Lunch was ramen and sushi, and Gaara conjured shrimp for both Aki and Taro who tackled him for it.

After lunch, they went on a walk through the landscape, taking their time and admiring the finer details of the forest that they had never seen before. The day ended with udon made by Gaara, which Naruto politely ate, and with ice cream for desert. (A/N: remember, they can do hat trick, and therefore can get whatever they want from wherever they want w/o a time lapse) Dreams took them, and they slept.

It was the second morning. Gaara woke the same way. The day was fair and pleasant, and Naruto's laughter rang out through the air as they played with Aki and Taro for hours, stopping occasionally for snacks or ramen. Night came, and they went to sleep again, sending their thoughts to the silent demons. Dreams took them, and they slept.

It was the third morning. Gaara woke to the smell of Naruto's hair. He looked up at the sky.

"It's been so peaceful," he whispered to the calm sky above him, "but what about the surrounding countries?"

His only answer was a soft breeze, gentle and teasing, as if it knew the secret answer he was asking for.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Dana looked up at the sky. There were lots of clouds everywhere, and it was getting very dark. The four-year-old frowned. "Hey," she whined, "Mr. Sky? It's not even three a clock yet! Can't you stay sunny for just a little longer? I don't wanna have to go inside yet ..."

But despite Dana's pleading, the clouds gathered still, rumbling through the air.

Kaorin shut her eyes. "Looks like rain," she said, picking up her basket and Dana's, "we better head back home."

"Aww," moaned Dana as she followed the older girl along the dirt path, "Ame-chan (A/N: got this term from Fruits Basket, supposed to be respectful for older girl), I don't wanna go inside! It's not even rainin' yet!"

Kaorin looked down at the small girl and then back to the heavens. "It's gonna rainyour mom will want us back soon anyway." Dana pouted but followed the taller girl along the path as the sky grew even dimmer.

Their feet padded along the ground as they made their way back to the edge of the small village, and the padding quickened. Kaorin grabbed Dana's hand and both girls dashed through the still busy streets, passing the arguing merchants and haggling villagers. Weaving through the throngs of people, Kaorin managed to get them inside an apartment door, then up two flights of stairs to a small red door. Dana knocked and a woman answered.

"Oh, Kaorin-san, you brought back my Dana at just the right time! It's just about to rain." The blonde girl nodded. "Yes ma'am." The elder woman smiled at her. "You run along, too. If the rain catches you, you come right back and stay with us where it's dry, all right?"

Kaorin nodded. "All right."

"I'll see you tomorrow, right Ame-chan?" asked Dana with a smile. Kaorin looked at the little girl. She couldn't lie to Dana. "You can have my squash, too," she said, tumbling the contents of her own basket into Dana's. The four-year-old smiled in delight, not realizing Kaorin hadn't answered her question, and dashed behind her mother to tell the others in the room about the extra squash. The woman smiled at Kaorin.

"Remember, if you get caught in that awful rain, you come right back here, ok?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Kaorin softly.

She walked away from the door with a small smile.

She went outside and climbed the ladder on the side of the building to the top of the roofs as the first drop hit her skin. Looking up to the sky, she undid the tie to her jacket and threw it to the wind, a sharp gust picking it up and tossing it around before it was speared on a lightning rod. Kaorin looked to the sky, eyes wide and excited.

"It's going to rain," she whispered to no one, and then she leapt from the roof top.

Flying, she raced the droplets rapid descent, tumbling over the close roofs, glancing into the narrow alleyways as she flew over them.

A man was being mugged in one, a woman kissed by some stranger in another, a little girl patting a puppy's dead body, a trash can over turned here, a dead body there ...

Kaorin smiled. It was raining.

With a leap, she launched herself into the sky as the rain doubled, coming down like a sheet on her airborne form.

Rain like this only came once in a while, and when it did, it hit hard and fast and then it was gone. You had to know when to catch it by surprise, when to run along side it and revel in it. It was like expensive desertsthey were often small and didn't last long, but were sweeter than honey. She shut her eyes and let herself go, feeling the water rush upon her like a splintered current.

It was like swimming in the middle of the ocean, a hundred feet from the ocean floor and surface. It was like flying.

Kaorin fell, smiling. It poured still.

She drew her feet to her chest and then prepared to land, thrusting her feet out to tap the surface of the next roof and then lessening the impact by letting the shock flow through her, and she crouched down before springing back into the airinto the sea.

A few more roof tops and the rain had begun to feel like a real ocean, pounding down a thousand fold harder than it had been at the beginning. Kaorin's smile thinned into a line on her face, and she wondered why such heavy rains weren't letting up. It should have passed or at least lightened up ... Kaorin decided to milk it while it lasted, not questioning the long and heavy rainfall, and threw herself into the ocean-like sky once again.

The blonde's clothes were soaked through, and she tore off another layer, reveling in the sensation of water rushing against her bare upper arms and neck. She slipped out of her long pants and shot off in her skintight tank top and thin shorts. The rain fell.

Kaorin thought it would be in her best interest to head towards her house now. The rain would probably let up by the time she was there.

By the time she had reached her house, the ground was all mud and deep puddles. Her hair fell in her eyes, her breathing was labored and she was freezing. She'd heard thunder once and shot off faster than she'd ever run before. She was about 99 guaranteed to be fried alive if lightning struck even the ground. Without knocking, she threw open the door and shut it before the rain could follow. Panting, she collapsed against the back of the door.

"Kaorin!" Her father called from his chair, jumping to his feet and running over to her, "What happened? Where's your mother?" Kaorin's eyes widened.

"Mom's not here?" Her father shook his head. "NoI don't know what caused this weather, but your mother insisted that she go out and get the last of the squash today. I told her it was going to rain, but she had to"

Kaorin was outside again, dashing through the mud that splashed up her bare calves and coated her feet, but all she cared about was the silhouette of her mother's figure slumped against the tree in the huge area of crop behind their house, now just a huge mud puddle.

"MOM!" Her voice was lost to the wind and rain and rumbling thunder as she made her way to her mother, panting and fighting not to slip. She threw herself at the trunk of the tree, her mother hugging a sack of squash to her chest.

"Kaorin?" called her mother through the howling wind, "Kaorin, what are you doing out here?" The blonde grabbed her mother's hand. "Mom, we have to get inside!" Her mother shook her head. "The squash"

"Mom, let's go!" Kaorin grabbed her mother's hand and the squash and dragged her through the field of mud back towards their house. Her father was in the doorway, slamming the door and rushing to them. Kaorin handed him her mother's arm and he picked the protesting woman up off her feet and Kaorin followed her parents into the house.

Once inside, her father set his wife down with a sigh of relief. Kaorin set the squash on the table and looked up to see her father gathering wood and tools. "Dad? What're you doing?" Her father looked gravely serious.

"That's no ordinary storm," he grumbled, "bad omen if you ask meit'll be raining for at least 48 hours ... Have to board up the house."

Kaorin looked at the glass window as her father took wooden planks to the door, bolting it tighter than a cork in a wine bottle. "I got Dana home," she said softly, wringing her hair out, "and I gave her my squash. I'm sorry." Her mother smiled. "That's fine, Kaorin. That's just fine."

Her father looked up from his work. "You knew the storm was comin', too, didn't you? Isn't that why you gave Dana your squash?" Kaorin grinned sheepishly and her father grinned back. "That's mah girljust like her old man." His wife laughed as she went to the windows, locking them and closing the shutters. "Oh, Daniel, she is just like you. She knows when a storm's coming, just like her father." The man offered her a smile as he returned to his work, the sound of a hammer pounding echoed through the house.

Kaorin looked out the last window as her mother locked and bolted the other shutters. "This will be the last time I see the sky for a while," she whispered as she took the shutters in her hands and leaned towards the glass.

"Three days," she whispered as the shutters closed.

The rain lashed against the glass.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Naruto woke to something biting at his arm. He looked at the skin for any bite marks but found none. "What was that?" he mumbled aloud. Gaara suddenly jerked beside him, gasping and gripping his chest as if for air. "Gaara!" Naruto flipped him onto his back and tried to find the problem, but there was no external wound to be found. The pain returned to Naruto's arm, and he fell away from the red head gripping his arm in substantial amount of painneither boy had felt so much pain before. It was as if some invisible enemy was drilling a thousand scars into their bodies with crooked, thorn-laced drills about the width of a coin.

Suddenly, the pain fell away and they flopped to the ground, eyes wide, breath short.

"Wh ... wha ... hap... happened?"

'_The seals,'_ thought Gaara, gasping for breath, "seals ... wo ... working ..."

As both boys recovered, they heard two deep, strained voices from within their own minds.

'_**You ok?'**_

_**/Didn't have time to warn you two/**_

"Kaa-san!" Naruto realized, jumping into a kneeling position next to Gaara, "Kaa-san, are you ok? What was that just now!"

"The seals," said Gaara, "we're running out of time."

Naruto's face fell, and fear danced across his eyes. "I ... I don't ... I don't wanna merge. I want Kaa-san to stay. I don't want them to leave!"

Gaara's eyes met the ground. He felt terrible. This was the one monster he couldn't protect Naruto_or_ himselffrom. He could only be there for the other boy, and he wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders. Both boys could feel their demons straining to keep their voices levelobviously, the seals were hard at work.

'_**Our seals both have spent up to now analyzing our power and we think they can pull us in at any time—it might be painful.'**_

**_/We don't know when the seal will over come us. You might be awake, you might be asleep, but from now on, we can't speak to you any more. We have to fightto concentrate on this pain. Now, listen upI don't know when they're gonna break, so you might be merging at the same time, or separately. If it's separate, do your best to watch over each other. If it's simultaneous, tell those things the brat made to put up some kind of barrier./ _**Naruto's bright blue eyes were clouded with tears. Gaara's arms around him tightened. "You mean Aki and Taro?" Gaara asked, not trusting Naruto's voice.

Shukaku confirmed with a grunt. **_'They can provide a barrier at least to keep you both safe. We don't know what's going to happen, and it'd be better if others couldn't get in.'_**

Gaara nodded. Naruto's face was unreadable, but there were tears in his eyes as the Kyuubi spoke to them both.

**_/Listen up. After we merge, I'm sure you two are going to be able to either use our powers or get a huge chakra boost or something to that effect. Whatever the hell happens, you CAN NOT let that power get to your head./ _**Gaara frowned. _'What do you mean?'_

**_/You'll probably feel all high and mighty for a few days with the powerso after you're merged, try to stay low and keep your own heads on. Don't let emotions take over you and control your actions. Acting on emotions will get you killed, even with _our_ power./_**

Naruto buried his head in Gaara's shoulder, and the Kyuubi's gruff voice came back to them. **_/Hey, kiddo, remember what Shukaku said a few days ago? We're doin' this for you, so perk up and smile./_**

White hot pain laced Naruto's arm, as if the blood in his veins were suddenly a million needles, and he gave a yelp as the fox's concentration broke, and some of the pain seeped through.

_**/Damn/**_

And just as suddenly, the pain stopped, and the fox's strained voice came back to them one last time.

_**/We'll hold it off for another dayjust remember, one day/**_

Naruto collapsed in Gaara's arms. The voice was gone forever.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Yukina looked around. Everything was covered in snow. She put her hands on her hips, frowning at the sky.

"Hey, whoever's in charge up there! I just shoveled this yesterday, and I had to do it the day before, too!" The sky seemed impassive to her shouts, and she crossed her arms over her rather well-developed chest, growling at the calm sky.

"Well, I don't care if you like to snow; just because it's the country's name doesn't mean you have to send it every day!"

"Who're you yellin' at, 'Kina-chan?"

The blue-haired girl turned around to smile at her younger brother. "I'm yellin' at the sky, Haru. Aren't you supposed to be inside helping mom with dinner?" The little boy grinned impishly. "Aren't you?"

Yukina returned the grin.

"So," she asked the boy as they fell backwards into the snow, "why did you come out here?"

"Dunno," said Haru slowly. "Just felt like it. Nice."

Yukina nodded, reveling in the icy caress of the snowflakes. "Yeah ... suddenly, I just felt like coming out and being in the snow. It's so beautiful here."

"Boo-tee-full," repeated Haru, smiling at the sky. Yukina giggled.

The snow began to fall again in silent coats. The two smiled and lay in the snow until their mother called them in for dinner.

Somewhere else in the same country, two boys felt something inside them give way, and as Yukina went inside, she was sure that from somewhere far off she'd heard a scream.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

_(A/N: this happens just as the scene above closes)_

It came suddenly.

Naruto was sitting next to Gaara, and the other boy just fell over, clutching his head. Naruto had time to shout at Aki and Taro before he froze and felt something inside him drain, and then the seal did something, twisting and then swirling and Naruto fell to the ground as a wall of cold pain slammed into his gut. He could feel the claws of the fox inside him, resisting the seal, and on the outside, gashes were developing along his chest and stomach as the fox was dragged down into the spiral and Naruto gasped as the presence of the fox disappeared into the seal. Blood still danced down his chest but the sting was sweet compared to the previous pain. Panting, he found his breath and his composure.

Looking up, he found Gaara and they locked eyes. The pain was gone, and so were the demons. So was that it?

No.

The two demons had been pulled _into_ the seal, that was for surebut they were just in the _seal_, not in the boys themselves. Suddenly, they knew what was going to happenand had a pretty good idea of how much it would hurt.

They braced themselves just as the seal twisted inside them, and their screams reached the edge of the Snow country.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Tsunade looked out her window. The weather had been terrible these past few daysthe entire week had been a wreck weather-wise, but today seemed to top it off. There was rain coming down so hard that she was afraid it would start a flood. As a precaution in such an event, the staff had moved all paperwork, to her great delight, out of her office and the entire building, really, and into a water-proof vault that would be opened after the weather cleared up. She was sincerely hoping that there wouldn't be a flood or any other natural disaster like a tornado that she'd never had to deal with before.

Unlike the other hidden villages, the leaf wasn't exactly built to withstand nature's onslaughts. Hidden Stone was built into rocks, Sand was built among dunes and great valleys, Snow was made into the mountains, but the leaf was brought to its feet in the trees, which could be brought down by massive winds and storms like this one.

Lightning flashed outside and she looked up as someone came in her office.

"Tsunade-sama, it's been voted that we evacuate this building and move to a more secure location. Will you approve?" Tsunade looked out her window one last time.

"All right. Let's go."

The rest of the staff and faculty had gone as soon as she'd agreed, and she was the last person to step out of the building. The rain was coming down in sheets before her, and thunder rocked the sky and earth alike. She didn't like the thunder. However, she prepared herself to move into the storm.

There was a crack, and the rain stopped.

Just like that, as Tsunade stepped off the cement, the rain gave a last heave of wind and a roll of thunder and then all that was left were the dark clouds overhead. Tsunade looked up at the sky in amazement. An ANBU member, mask half-on, stepped up beside her.

"How? The rain didn't shown any signs of stopping, and rain that harsh doesn't just stop completely all of a sudden ..." Tsunade sighed and smiled at the slowly clearing clouds.

"Well, perhaps what caused the weather at the start of the week has been resolved."

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

It was done.

Aki and Taro felt it, and they dropped the barriers, dashing over to their creator and nudging him with their noses. Gaara's eyes didn't open.

A wave of fear washed over the two animals and they bounded over to the blonde, licking his face as they'd done in the past when they wanted to get him up. Naruto didn't budge.

Sniffing, Aki confirmed a pulse on both boys and Taro made a noise that resembled relief. Both froze as the air around them _pulsed_, and they eyed each other before they collapsed, hissing in pain, curling into tight balls and biting and clawing and scratching at themselves as if they would have to tear out the source of their anguish.

There was a loud POOF as two towers of smoke erupted from the trees.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

_(A/N: I really don't like this part … oh well.)_

"Hnng ..."

Gaara rolled over, gasping. Suddenly, his senses were hit with a huge amount of sensations, and he froze, shutting his eyes.

Every sound was magnified a hundred fold, echoing in his ears as if they'd been shouted into a canyon. Everything seemed denser, clearer, sharper, heavier, lighter than it ever had before. Trying to move slowly, Gaara got into a sitting position. Every shifting of his clothes and muscles rumbled in his ears as if someone was holding a microphone to him and sending it amplified straight into his head. His nose was being bombarded by a thousand new smells that seemed impossiblesomehow he could smell how far away he was from Naruto's still body, and the filtered scent of pine and wind gave him an estimate of how dense the air was. He peeked his eyes open and it was all he could do to stop them from widening. If he had good vision before, it was perfect now. Every detail of the landscape created the razor-sharp image of the dense area around them, and as the wind blew through the trees, a thousand sounds blasted through his ears; birds taking flight, feathers rippling in the first stages of flight, squirrels leaping from branches, tiny claws scraping against bark, trees bending ever so slightly, the gentle hum of their motions a screech of agony and discomfort to his ears, every blade of grass ringing against each other; all these sounds and more pounded into his brain. The loudest of these was the sound of a breath being drawn into a mouth, and from the odd curve of wind, Gaara could tell whatever it was had fangs.

Naruto blinked his eyes open to the same new world of sensations that Gaara had. He gasped, and clamped his hands to his ears to block out the sound, and then yelped as the motion's sounds alone echoed shrilly in his ears, then winced as the sound of his own voice rang like a bell.

When he managed to get over the new sensations his body was capable of feeling, he turned slowly to face Gaara, and blinked twice to make sure his new vision wasn't failing him.

The pale red head was no longer shortnor was he himself, for that matter. They'd both shot up an entire foot, toping out at 6' 2. Their hair was mostly the same, as well as their clothes and outward presence. Gaara's cold jade eyes were split in half by a thin yellow slit in both irises, and Naruto sported similar slits, though his were black. Naruto's bright blue eyes were a hazy purple toward the center, and Gaara frowned, slightly disappointed by the loss of his beautiful blue eyes.

"You don't like purple?" asked Naruto, and then jumped. "Is that **ME**?" he asked incredulously.

Instead of a soft, whiny tone, the blonde's voice had warped into a smooth tenor that made Gaara shiver as he practically purred.

"I _like_ purple," said Gaara slowly, getting used to the sound of his own new voice.

Naruto flashed him a smiled. The blonde's canines had extended past his other teeth, and if he didn't consciously prevent it, they would peek out from under his upper lip.

Physically, they seemed only taller, but they could tell without moving that their strength had increased. Of course, there would be time to test their limits later, but they both recalled the Kyuubi's request for them to lay low and not let whatever new powers they had get to their heads.

_/Gaara/_

'_Naruto?'_

_/I still feel like me .../_

'_You still sound like Naruto.'_

They looked at each other through their new eyes and smiled.

A rumble attracted their attention. Turning around, they jumped at the sight of Aki and Taro, both well over fifty feet tall. Aki lowered his head to Gaara's level, blinking its huge turquoise eyes at both boys. Taro's slender but muscular form snaked between the taller trees at the edge of the clearing, her pitch black eyes blinking curiously as she examined the much smaller beings, who just an hour ago were twice her size.

Naruto and Gaara turned to each other. "How ..." After a second of thought, they pieced it together.

"... our chakra must have increased ..."

"... so they got a boost in size. Ok."

Naruto stood up slowly, getting used to his new muscles. Then, he tapped his foot on the ground, wobbling a bit as he ascended into the air, floating on the wind and resting on the top of Aki's head. The badger made a rumble that was interpreted as a purr as Naruto made himself comfortable in the silky silver strands. Gaara followed him onto the huge badgers head, crouching weightlessly next to the blonde who turned and offered him a fanged smile. Gaara returned it, slightly surprised to find his own fangs smaller than Naruto's but just as sharp.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So what do you wanna do now?"

Gaara looked at the clear sky. What was there to do? After this, anything would seem pretty dull. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, the motion making both boys wince as they suffered the blaring of his clothes rustling. After it was mostly silent again, Gaara tried to focus. What happened before this? Before, they were trainingand he knew what they would do next.

"We have to find the Akatsuki."

Naruto's eyes widened, and then narrowed in recognition, and then in anger. A new kind of fire flooded the depths of his purple-blue eyes, and Gaara's eyes widenedhe found he could _smell_ the anger rolling off the other boy in waves, and Naruto stopped because he smelled it, too. It was so different, yet neither boy was uncomfortable with being able to _smell_ anger. Just as quickly, Naruto's rage built again and swarmed through his eyes, and red chakara flickered off him. Any other person would have jumped back at the heat the energy was producing, but Gaara reveled in the warmth, confused for only a moment before the power flooded his senses like some kind of drug. He shut his eyes, shuddering in the sensations that shot through his body to the tips of his fingers and feet as Naruto's growl grew fiercer. Underneath them, Aki gave a deep bark to remind them where they were.

The noise opened both boys' eyes again, and Gaara spoke in a strained voice.

"We have to find Itachi."

Naruto's eyes slowly drained themselves as he remembered the older Uchiha. "Itachi-nii wouldn't want us to avenge Haku-chan without him. We have to find him first."

"Yeah."

Naruto looked over at Gaara. The other boy was lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows. Offering the blonde a smile, he rolled over and silently invited him to sit. Naruto fell backwards into Gaara's lap, an arm wrapping around his torso and the other around his shoulders. The red head kissed the skin between Naruto's shoulder and neck, and the blonde laughed as the soft contact tickled him.

Taro had almost fallen asleep from boredom as Naruto turned around to press their foreheads together. "We'll look for Itachi-nii in Konoha." Gaara nodded as Naruto closed the distance between them and they fell from Aki's head through the air. A dark brown paw cushioned their landing, and Taro brought the two of them up to her eye level for closer examination, the look in her giant eye one of disbelief that these tiny creatures had once been twice her size. Naruto pulled away from Gaara's lips, eyes blinking open and slowly shifting to look over the red head's content face to the huge, scaly mass behind it. Naruto rolled over Gaara and sat up next to the wall of scales that greeted him.

"Hullo, Taro-chan."

The dragon gave him an affectionate yip and lowered her paw so the two could get to the ground. The two hopped down and looked at each other. They knew what they needed to do nowtheir training was complete, so now they could fight the Akatsuki and avenge Haku's unfair and dishonorable death. Naruto felt anger rising in him just thinking about it, and he could smell and feel Gaara having a similar reaction. The merging must have given him Kyuubi's rise to anger, because he couldn't remember getting this angry since Haku died. Remembering Haku's death only fueled their fury, and with clenched fists they felt power building inside them like a thunderstorm. A voice echoed in their heads.

_/'Don't let our power go to your head.'/ _

Naruto and Gaara recalled Kyuubi's advice and took deep breaths, trying desperately to call back their own calm and reserve. They would NOT waste this transformation on foolhardy brashness or overconfidence or let their anger control them. After getting most of his control back, the blonde turned to Aki and Taro with a smile.

"You're too big to take with us, so can you two stay here?" The two glanced at each other with similar smirks and nodded down at both boys. Gaara looked at the sky.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"... I wanna go back."

Naruto blinked and then a nostalgic look passed over his face, dragging a half smile with it. "I miss it."

"We can bring it here."

"To Snow?"

"Hn."

"It'll be a lot of work ..."

"I'll do ityou find Itachi."

"YAY!"

Naruto hopped around shouting, laughing and circling Gaara with glee before turning and tackling the other boy to the ground. Gaara gave a soft 'oof' before they landed with a THUMP in the grass and dirt. Purple-blue eyes flashed with excitement and Gaara couldn't help but mirror the emotions in a grin as they disappeared from sight.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

_(A/N: this is a day after merging)_

Sakura and Hianta walked down the hospital hallway as Sasuke walked the opposite way. Neji was with him, and he smiled at his cousin as they passed Hinata. Sakura winked at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes and pulled Neji along towards his brother's room. Not surprisingly, Kakashi met him at the door, along with two ANBU members. Today's guards were wearing a monkey mask and a shark mask. They asked the two gennins to remove their weapon holsters and then admitted them into the room with Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin returned to his seat in the corner, and Sasuke was surprised to see another person in the room already occupying one of the four chairs in the room. Neji blinked and took Sasuke's hand reflexively at the presence of a second person, but the calm yet slightly surprised pulse that met his fingers told him that it wasn't a person Sasuke was concerned about seeing, and Neji could therefore relax.

"Iruka-sensei," said Sasuke as he took the chair next to the brown-haired chuunin, "it's been a while."

Iruka smiled at him. The chuunin was wearing a dark blue T-shirt with a dolphin stretched out across his chest. He wore brown pants and gray sandals, and had his hair tied back in its usual high pony tail. Iruka was sitting on a chair next to Itachi's bed, smiling with one arm on the side of the cot, his cheek resting in his palm. "YeahI've been really swamped by all the work at the academy. Kakashi-san's been good enough to help me out in his spare time. I don't know what I'd do without him and Shikamaru-kun; they both help me out so much ..." He looked over at Neji with a slight smile.

"He says he's sorry about your eyes."

Neji looked up as Sasuke's pulse doubled its pace. "What?"

Iruka smiled, Kakashi peeking over the edge of his book to glance at the chuunin.

"Gaara-kunhe says that he's sorry for your eyes. You know he didn't mean it, right?" Sasuke frowned and turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi ..."

The silver-haired man sent him a look that said tell-you-later-play-along-for-now,' and Sasuke gave a snort of irritation. Iruka just smiled at the two boys then turned back to Itachi.

"I wonder when Itachi-kun'll wake up?"

Kakashi put his book down. "I don't know, Iruka. I wish I did. I really wish I knew."

Neji took a seat and Sasuke went to stand next to his teacher. A few minutes of silence passed between them before Iruka blinked and put a hand to his head as if he was having a migraine. Kakashi's eye narrowed and Sasuke's eyebrow rose at his teacher's tensing. He followed the jounin's line of sight and asked himself what was so concerning about what looked like a mild migraine.

Then Iruka's eyes opened.

Sasuke hadn't seen the teacher like this beforeand Neji hadn't heard him. Only Kakashi knew what was happening as Iruka gave a soft laugh as if someone had pushed him in a ticklish spot. _'I could have sworn Iruka-sensei's eyes were _brown_,'_ thought Sasuke as he narrowed his eyes and activated his shirring. No genjutsu, no illusion ...

Suddenly, Iruka jerked and hugged his chest, and blood dribbled out of his mouth.

Neji's eyes widened as he heard something splatter onto the floor. He stiffened as the scent of bodily fluids reached his nose. _'Blood'_ "Sasuke! What happened?" Kakashi held the chuunin up as Iruka began to sway, coughing and wincing at some unknown pain in his chest.

"Iruka! Iruka, what's wrong?"

When the chuunin couldn't answer, Kakashi turned to get a doctor. A hand shot out and gripped his wrist desperately, and Kakashi looked down to see Iruka's frightened and bloody face staring back up at him. Chilling memories of the shirring-induced experiences where Iruka had tried to kill him came back to him and he felt his hair stand on end. The hand around his wrist lost its strength and retreated along a very shaky path to Iruka's chest. Kakashi spoke to Sasuke without looking at him.

"Sasuke, go"

"No!"

The two turned their stares at Iruka as blood continued to make its way up his throat. Kakashi slowly led Iruka to a chair while repeating his order to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, go and get a doctor."

The black-haired Uchiha nodded slowly, glancing at his brother's prone form on the bed with an unreadable expression before turning towards the door. Iruka groaned, clutching his stomach and chest. "Don't go," he whispered, words slurred slightly by blood that leaked out of the corner of his mouth. Kakashi wiped the blood away and looked down at the teacher. "Don't worry, I'll stay right here."

Iruka looked up as Sasuke got to the door.

"Not youSasuke."

The gennin froze as his name echoed in the tense room.

Neji turned to face him. Kakashi threw a glance at him over his shoulder. Sasuke was still halfway out the door. Iruka kept talking, gasping for breath when the blood slowed down.

"Don't ... don't let him go. The first time" Iruka shuddered and looked at Itachi's bed with an odd smile.

"'_So this is where he is'_," said a new voice, deeper than Iruka's, causing everyone to tense. Iruka waved to Sasuke with an odd expression that was a smile and wasn't a smile at the same time and Sasuke flinched as the shock-blue eyes flashed purple and back to blue again.

"'_**Hullo, Sasuke-baka**'_that's what Naruto-kun says, anyway."

Sasuke's eyes swiveled to Sharingan, and Kakashi had to jump and restrain him from getting to Iruka, who was sitting upright on his own now, but with blood still dribbling out of his mouth at the edges of his lopsided smile.

"Where is he?" Sasuke hissed over Kakashi's shoulder. Iruka smiled and looked up to the ceiling, speaking as if Sasuke's comment had been unheard.

"Wowyou've both changed a lot! I didn't expect you to get so big! And so Naruto's gone to find him?" Kakashi and the other two gennin were totally oblivious to Iruka's conversing party, and couldn't tell whom he was talking toreally, they didn't know _what_ it was he was talking to. Iruka gave a laugh.

"No, I guess it's not their faultI didn't ask to be connected to them, though. Not physically, at least. I do love hearing from them. Really? Hah! That sounds just _like_ him ..."

The chuunin carried on his own conversation with some kind of invisible animal while Kakashi restrained Sasuke from getting to Iruka. The younger Uchiha was boiling with unrestrained rage, trying desperately to listen and get his hands on Iruka at the same time. The black-haired boy wrenched around Kakashi and grabbed Iruka's shoulders.

"Where is he?"

Iruka actually smirked at him, " **_'Well, why don't you come and find us?' "_** he asked in the deep voice that wasn't his, and Sasuke shook him, growling.

"Where are you, Naruto!"

Neji flinched. Kakashi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke, that's Iruka."

At the sound of his own name, the chuunin shook his head as if banishing a headache and gave the others a bright smile all his own.

"Oh, hello, Sasuke …"

Iruka's eyes slowly drained from blue to brown again, and suddenly Sasuke realized who he was holding. His hands fell away from his former teacher as his current sensei gave him a gentle shove towards the vacant seat next to Neij.

"I'm going to take Iruka to the Hokage," he said softly, "she might know what to do with him."

The two teachers left, Kakashi sending Itachi one last glance before shutting the door on a younger Uchiha and a hollow-eyed Hyuuga.

A silence stretched between them before Neji spoke.

"You called him Naruto," said Neji softly. Sasuke tensed. "You called me Naruto, once. When you tried to kill me."

"Neji" A hand came up to his lips.

"Later." Neji's voice was slightly shaky, and Sasuke felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest, "later."

Kakashi looked at Iruka as they made their way down the hall. _'What the hell is going on here?_' he asked before taking out a cloth to clean the rest of the blood from Iruka's face and shirt. The chuunin stopped bringing up blood and allowed himself to be dragged to the Hokage's office. He was silent the whole way and stayed silent until he was sat in front of Tsunade herself. The blonde Hokage gave Kakashi a look as he came in that asked his reason for such an urgent meeting, and the look she received was _'you'll see.' (A/N: she went outside and came back inside, and has had meetings instead of paperwork, which is still getting back from the storm shelter thing …)_ Before she could even say hello, Iruka looked up at her, his eyes snapping and shock-blue invaded the deep brown orbs, causing both Tsunade and Kakashi to go on guard. The chuunin didn't speak with his own voice, but clearly spoke _for_ someone directly to Tsunade.

" '**_Don't let Sasuke go. Don't let him out of the village. He'll die. Itachi-nii doesn't want him to die, but if you let him go, he won't stand a chance.' _**"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

The smile spread across Iruka's face was his own. "Oh, that was Naruto-kun. Well, that's what he said, anyway."

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Yay all done! - I'd give you more, but I need to intrigue your interest a little more. Neji and Sasuke are already having problems! T-T I tried but fate had to interviene and make something weird happen ... I wonder what's setting Sasuke off? And what's up with Iruka? 0-0

The part with the new Naruto and Gaara was harsh. I didn't like the idea of changing them more than the minimumyou'll soon figure out what traits Naruto and Gaara inherited from the demons. I'll post updates soon. Er, I mean, another chapter.

**Response to Reviews:**

**Altariel Eldalote**: Yay—thank you! - I liked the hina/sasu/rooftop scene, too. Fun to write! Glad you like the gaanaru—probably one of the hardest things to do because I don't know what love feels like from a girl or guy's perspective … T-T Hope this was fast enough for you! - I thought it was really fast. For me.

Shitsumon: wow, you read the whole thing in one go? Kudos to your mad reading skills! I'll try to spell 'sharingan' right from now on. (nods) reason the kissing was akward is stated above.

**crimson nightmare**: Aw! Yes, we will much miss them, but we must go on. Wow—how did you know what was coming next? World domination is third down on the list of 'things-to-do' …

**inuyasha-sakura**: sorry I take so long! T-T I'll try to go faster, but this is as fast as I go, and they turn out awful short if I go too fast …

**Ruby Heart**: Yay, thanks for reviewing! Merging's over, now read to find out what the heck Sasuke has to be afraid of—although, considering merged demons and Akatsuki, there are plenty of things Sasuke-baka must consider …

**TFI-Muse**: I like replying to reviews. I feel great when I see my own replied to, and so I figured why not reward those who review with a reply as well as a chapter? Eh? - Thanks for the comments, I'll keep working!

**kai**: thanks! I updated!

**Spoon no Miko**: Yay. FCAT, yes. (shudders) Years ago? How old is you? I'm only 14 …

**Silver Spell:** Merging complete. Next mission: well, you'll just have to wait and read, won't you? (grins)

**Bakudon**: rocks and boobs. (go read her review if you wanna know.)

**ghostninja85**: this is as soon as I could update! - pretty fast for lazy little me, ne? u yay, I'll write more soon!

**Next chapter**: well, the title will come to me ... (sweatdrops)

Some of you guessed righthas somethin' to do with the **Akatsuki** ...

We'll see an old play place no one ever remembered to mention ...

Requests to become **ANBU**? From who? _Couldn't_ be any of the rookie nine ...

We'll definitely see some** relationship issues** worked out, you can bet on that...

And we'll find out **_WHY_** Sasuke shouldn't go wherever it is they're sending ANBU from almost every country ... Muhahaha ...

Ok! I'll see you all later

Ja!


	14. End of Akatsuki

**Chapter 14: End of Akatsuki**

Wow, chapter 14! I didn't think I'd get this many reviews, almost a hundred! - I'm sorry this was late, I got a little caught up with the new Nick series, Avatar, the last Airbender. I'm writing a little thing on it, it's a little weird, but it's fun. Anyway, back to this ...

This was EASY to do, after all the other chapters! - I like it. There's a typo here and there, and probably a word that don't quite make sense … ask about it if ya find it so I can change it.

NOTE: I **am** introducing 1 OC. Count em, one. However, I am still deciding its gender. Be patient. I shall elaborate in later chapter. That, and the OC won't be around long enough for you to flame about. Please don't flame about him/her/it …

Other than the OC, I think this chapter is pretty wingin' it. I have a lame excuse for my lateness besides the Avatar craze: School. High school really sucks, especially freshman year. Oh well.

Read on …

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

" '**_Don't let Sasuke go. Don't let him out of the village. He'll die. Itachi-nii doesn't want him to die, but if you let him go, he won't stand a chance.' _**"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

The smile spread across Iruka's face was his own. "Oh, that was Naruto-kun. Well, that's what he said, anyway."

Kakashi frowned. "How can you talk to someone who isn't here?"

Iruka offered him a bright smile. "I have no clue."

Tsunade ran a hand through her hair. Usually, she'd tell Iruka to go home and not worry about it, but considering the last time Iruka 'predicted' something ... She shuddered. They'd wound up with two people dead; one a Hokage, the other one of the legendary sannin (sennin?). Attentively, she looked at Iruka over the table. "What are we keeping Sasuke away from?"

"Their new play place!" said Iruka in the odd deep voice which suddenly sounded bouncy and cheerful, "**_'Gaa-chan is gonna bring the entire place over! I'm gonna help now that I know where Itachi-nii is.'_** That's what Naruto says."

"Can you tell me where it is?" Tsunade asked, some anger rising in her for an unknown reason.

"Uh ... **_'Don't let them godon't let any of them come for us. Just jounin and ANBU. Don't let Sasuke go. Don't let them go.'_**" Iruka gave Tsunade a pleading look. "Please listen to himif he goes, he'll die. It's going to be a massacre."

"What is?"

Iruka gave Tsunade a mysterious grin. " **_'Send as many as you can to kill us. We'll be waiting.'_** That's Gaara-kun. He told me where to find them."

"Tell us!" shouted Tsunade, jumping to her feet, then stopping herself. What was wrong with her? This could all be made up and the idea of Iruka being able to talk to Naruto and Gaara through some invisible link was so unbelievableshe shook her head._ 'I'll humor him and send a team to scout wherever Iruka tells us.'_

"Only if you promise to keep Sasuke and them away," said Iruka with a frown. Tsunade nodded. "Yeah, ok."

"Promise?"

"Yes, Iruka, now where are they?" The chuunin whispered a location in her ear like it was a big secret, and she looked at Kakashi.

"Get him home. I'll send a team to investigate this area."

Kakashi nodded, walking up to Iruka and escorting him to the door. The chuunin walked out of Tsunade's office with the silver-haired jounin beside him, looking over his shoulder at the Hokage with a worried expression.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Blue-purple eyes stared up at the large boulder.

"It's been so long. I almost forgot this was genjutsu."

Cold, jade eyes softened and their gaze slid to the smiling fox.

"Good memories?"

"Terrible."

"..."

The blonde smirked and the rock disappeared, as well as half of the rock.

"Knock, knock," called the blonde into the cavern, the sound of his voice echoing through the entire system of caverns.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Yuki looked up. Two figures dashed into the room.

"Mia, Kyu, what are you doing here? I asked not to be disturbed."

Mia bowed. "I'm sorry, sir"

"it's just that Uzumaki Naruto"

"and Gaara of the Sand"

"who trained with Itachi"

"who is also still missing"

"have returned!"

"Hn," came a voice from behind both girls, who jerked and fell forwards on the floor, "Flattering, how much they knew about us."

Yuki smirked. "I knew something was wrong. Mia and Kyu know when to not disturb me. They knew they would die either way."

The red head crossed his arms. "You would have killed them?"

"Why not?"

"..." A smirk drew itself across the Akatsuki leader's face. "Well, I suppose you know that you will be killed now? No matter how much power your little demon friend has, since you have that seal, you're easy picking. No one betrays this organization."

Yuki grinned. _Gaara's sand is an absolute defense, unless you move quick enough to penetrate. This will be interesting, to say the least._ He shut his eyes and moved his hands to his hips, cocking his head to the side.

"You'll last five minutes," he drawled with a smirk, "and then I'll break your arm. Then, I'll break your neck"

He disappeared as sand enveloped the area where he had been standing. When he reappeared, two hands closed around his neck and a warm gust of air shot down his neck.

"I don't have that kind of patience."

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Naruto looked at Makita with a smile. "Hey," he called cheerfully, "it's been a while! How are ya?"

"I'm fine," said the Akatsuki member with a slight smirk, "just fine. Yourself?"

"Never better," chirped Naruto cheerfully. "Mind tellin' me where I can find Ryusho? I really need to, like, uh"

"Kill him?" Genuine surprise drew itself across Naruto's face as Makita offered him a grin.

"How'd you know?"

"You had this look in your eye ... the same look that I had when he killed my brother." Naruto's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Poisoned cloth. Ryusho's not only a good fighter, but he's a poison master. He breathes the stuff, day and night, so he's immune to most poisons and toxins. There isn't a toxic chemical around, legal or illegal, that he hasn't subjected himself to." A grim smile replaced Makita's slight smirk. "He kills anyone who isn't, in his eyes, good enough for our familythe Akatsuki, I mean. And my brother, well ..."

Naruto's eyes softened.

"I'm sorry."

Makita lifted a finger and pointed. "Three doors down, left side ... watch the door handle."

The blonde disappeared. Makita smiled to himself. _I didn't think I'd live ... after Dylan died, I thought that it wouldn't be long before Ryusho 'accidentally' switched our cloaks._ He gave a laugh.

Down the hall, the wall was painted red.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Gaara looked at Yuki. The amber eyes were hidden behind shut eyelids and silky silver hair matted with deep red. He wiped his hands on the man's shirt and walked over the bodies of Mia and Kyu with an unreadable expression. Looking up, he commanded the sand to release its captive, and Sojirou gasped for air as he was released. Gaara felt a pang of mild surprise before the sand took him under again and squeezed. The red head paused for a moment, letting the sand take its time to clean as much blood from itself as possible before starting off in the direction of screams. He passed Makita on the way, the older man waving and giving him the same directions he'd given Naruto, minus the comment about Ryusho's door. A few doors later, and Gaara was facing a smiling albeit bloody blonde who turned from his work to launch himself at the red head with a yell of glee.

"Gaa-chan!"

Arms wrapped around Naruto's torso. "You're a little bloody."

"None of it's mine."

Gaara nodded. He could tell from the scent; all of the blood that covered Naruto now wreaked of some kind of poison-several kinds, if he wasn't mistaken, and something told him he wasn't.

"What's this?"

"I saved the best for last!"

The upper-portion of a man was hanging from the ceiling, one arm displayed all its muscles in a fan-like formation and the other was tied to a sickly-colored organ that probably was related to the digestive or intestinal system. The green hair was matted and brown with blood, and a clump of it covered a depression in his face opposite his right eye. Gaara didn't even bother looking at him. He could tell what was what from the putrid stench.

He narrowed his eyes and turned away. Sand shot up and latched around the remains of a man and squeezed.

"Aw," moaned Naruto as blood rained from the ceiling, "I worked so hard to draw it out!" Gaara shrugged. "It smells."

Naruto put his arms around Gaara's neck. "Sorry." The red head turned, hiding a blush as he tugged Naruto from the dank room.

They met Makita in the hallway. "Where's everybody else?"

The taller man leaned back against the wall, stretching his limbs. "They'll be out on a missionlast we saw of Itachi, he was with you two. Akuma's been sent on a mission to locate Itachi. He'll be back in a few days at the least." Naruto nodded. "What'll he do when he finds this place?" Makita shrugged. "Who knows? He didn't really care for Yuki's way of managing things, and now that he's gone, he'll probably take the best course of action for himself." Gaara nodded.

Naruto smiled at Makita. "You're nice. You can go." Makita laughed softly to himself.

"I guess that means you're not going to kill me, even thought I'm part of the organization you left." Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"That doesn't matter to me. I make people who hurt me and my friends go away. But you are a friend, so there's no reason to hurt you."

Makita nodded. "I'll be seeing you two."

Gaara nodded and Naruto waved as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The two boys looked at each other and a smile crossed Naruto's face.

"I think we need a bath."

"That would be good," agreed Gaara as he took the gourd from his back and peeled off his shirt, following Naruto through the Akatsuki stronghold to a small room in the back. There was an outlet in the wall that led to a small spring. Naruto and Gaara discarded the last of their bloody clothes, Naruto grinning and Gaara smiling softly. The blonde rushed and dove into the steaming pool with a wild yell, laughing as a wave crashed towards the edges of the spring. Gaara slipped into the water, bobbing as the wave Naruto had created met the ledge and he submerged, letting the water rush around him, cleansing, cleaning. He felt most of the blood slip away, and with it went a heavy burden. A face, pale as snow, smiled at him from the surface of the water.

'_Haku_.'

Gaara blinked underwater, watching the blood from his skin sink to the bottom of the pond, the darkness of a friend's death falling like a second skin.

_'We're done. You can rest now.'_

Something flickered on the surface, as if Haku were indeed smiling down at their deed, and Gaara rushed towards the surface, and as he broke into the air, leaping from the water fresh and clean, he felt as if everything was new again.

Naruto watched Gaara surface and leap into the air, soaring up twenty feet before floating back to the earth.

_/Things have changed.../_

The blonde shook the water from his hair and moved towards the entrance to the Akatsuki. Gaara followed him inside where they collected their clothes, dressed, and then returned to the spring and stood outside under the clear sky and clouds and Naruto smiled at Gaara, and the red head took his hand.

_/... but not all of them have changed./_

He looked up at the sky.

"Hey, Haku-chan."

Gaara leaned on his shoulder. The endless blue sky shimmered, and Naruto smiled.

"We're stronger. How're you?"

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Tsunade stared at the six masked men before her. "All right, listen up. Your mission is short and simple, but it's also highly confidential. No one, not even your fellow ANBU may know about it. You are sworn to silence as soon as you leave this room, understand!" The men all nodded and Tsunade continued in a normal voice. "I want you to go to this location and scout out a few things for me. You will then return and report on what you could find."

"Hokage-sama," came the mechanical voice of one of the men, "it's not my place to question our missions, but why have us scout in such a remote location?"

Tsunade smirked. "You're rightit's not your place to question my motives."

Another man spoke up. "What should we keep an eye out for?"

"Any suspicious homes. Any non-suspicious homes, especially. Also, keep your eyes peeled for any missing-nins that might be in the area; but don't concern yourself with them if they're not the target."

The men nodded and Tsunade looked at the clock.

"I'm going to record that you left now, at 4:16, and I expect you back with a report by the same time in a week."

They bowed and disappeared in six puffs of smoke.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

"We're going to leave it all?"

"Yes." Naruto looked over his shoulder, frowning. "I don't wanna touch anything else the Akatsuki had connections to." The red head, still standing in the tunnel leading to what was left of the Akatsuki stronghold, leaned on the rock, arms crossed over a broad chest.

"You didn't even look."

"I don't need to," Naruto growled, and Gaara turned around.

"Naruto ..." The blonde blinked. "Hm?"

Gaara's footsteps echoed as he moved deeper into the tunnel, whispering something and walking away from the blonde, who dashed after him a few moments later, calling, "wait up, wait up!"

The red head opened a door and Naruto finally caught up with him. The sight inside the door caused their eyes to widen.

"Wh ..."

Naruto's eyes grew as big as dishes and his jaw dropped to the ground.

"WHOOOOOAAAAHHHH!"

The entire room from floor to high ceiling was stacked with treasures. Gold and silver stacked in towers were just hills next to the piles of jeweled weapons. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds; all these and more lazed upon the floor like common pebbles. One corner held a golden bookshelf adorned with silver scrolls with solid gold seals and bronze locks. Another shelf held a glass box with several vials of clear liquid that shimmered like the diamonds on the floor. Golden handle swords and lances sat in a corner like umbrellas, necklaces of pearl and precious stone lounged across the arms of a golden throne in the back of the room, next to two tunnels that led to two identical rooms laden with twice as many treasures.

Gaara poked the blonde with a finger, and then winced as he fell over onto the floor with a dull thud.

"All ... all ... this ... stuff," Naruto said, twitching, "so ... much ... money ..."

"We could use it ..."

The blonde twitched again and dove at the piles of gold. Gaara sweatdropped as Naruto swam through the coins with a laugh. "Naruto ... we could take this all back to the _fortress_." A flash of blonde surfaced above the gold, grinning at him.

"Ok!"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "You have to help this time."

Naruto whined. "I don't wanna help! That's a lot of work!" Gaara sweatdropped. "You can use hat trick. It'll be quick."

The blonde considered. "Ok!"

"All right," Gaara said, two kage bunshin stepping out behind him, "I'll go to the furthest room and start taking it to the top floors ..."

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Violet eyes blinked at the large rooms. Everything was so silent, so empty ... as if the building hadn't been used for years.

A hand brushed chin-length bangs out the right side of a feminine face as one purple eye survived the vast halls and corridors, all empty, all silent.

Turning a corner, the violet-eyed stranger found itself face-to-face with a pair of cold jade eyes with yellow slits in their center. The jade-eyed boy stood in front of a huge pile of treasure. His eyes narrowed when the purple irises passed over the treasures without any kind of reaction at all. Where he expected greed or surprise, there was disinterest and indifference. It wasn't even cold indifference-it was as if the mounds of money simply didn't matter to the stranger.

"Who are you?" asked the jade-eyed boy, hands resting at his sides.

"Who are _you_?" returned the stranger, blinking at him, "And where am I?"

"You're in Infinity Fortress," came the stoic reply, "how did you get here?"

"I walked in the front door."

The green eyes narrowed further. _'Traps. Countless traps, and thousands of detours, yet this one managed to make it all the way to the top of the Fortress. Either this one's a genius, or a lucky fool.'_ He shook his head. _'Even luck wouldn't help. Lucky fools would be caught in the genjutsu or sent back outside. The lucky ones. The fools would be caught by a trap. So this one must be strong.'_

"This is a nice place," said the purple-eyed stranger, "but it's so quiet. It's so lonely." The eyes landed on jade. "You never told me your name. What can I call you?"

"You can call me Gaara." He crossed his arms over his chest now. "And what name can I call you?"

The face transformed as a smile graced the stranger's lipswhat was once blaze and indifferent to almost everything became a bright acceptance and joy and happiness that almost spread to Gaara.

"You can call me Kaiva."

Gaara nodded. "Kaiva ... so what do you want?"

The purple eyes shut. "Like I said before, I don't know. I was looking for a place to stay, and wandered in here."

"You don't usually wander into a place like this."

"You mean a place so well-hidden by illusions?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "I can kill you."

"I believe you."

The red head uncrossed his arms and sand that had been on the floor swirled up around them both. "Then tell me why you're here."

"Huh ... that's a weird question," Purple eyes glinted at him, reflecting seriousness, "Well? Why am I here?" Gaara's eyes widened as an image of Naruto flashed back to him.

"_Wha ... Iwho are you? Why don't you have eyebrows?" _

_Gaara cocked his head. "Why do you have eyebrows?" Naruto thought about it and couldn't find an answer. "Huh. That's a weird question." He screwed up his face and the answer evaded his six-year-old brain, and he looked at Gaara seriously. "Well? Why do I have eyebrows?" _

"I guess I'm here because I'm here," Kaiva said, snapping Gaara out of his flash back, "and I'm here to find out why I'm here, and that's that."

Gaara looked at Kaiva for a moment as the stranger looked back at him. '_Tall as Neji,_' thought Gaara as he tried to compare the boy/girl to someone he knew. Somewhere in the back of his mind something surged, and a warmth enveloped him as he looked over the purple-eyed boy. '_Haku ..._' for some reason, Kaiva reminded him so much of their already avenged friend. The warmth came swiftly, then just as suddenly, a deep hollow space etched itself open again, and he froze, emptiness wracking through his blood.

Kaiva blinked, noting the boy's sudden lack of bloodlust. "Gaara?"

"Gaa-chan?" Purple eyes slid to the form that had appeared next to Gaara between the time it took to blink.

The jade-eyed boy shook his head. "... I'm fine." The blonde let out a breath of relief and wrapped his arms around the red head. "Ok. Who's this?"

"Kaiva."

Naruto looked at the stranger. "Are you a girl or a guy?"

Gaara sweatdropped.

Kaiva smiled. "If I tell you, can I stay?"

"Sure!" came the ecstatic answer.

"Ok! I'm ..."

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

(_time has passed, it's the next day_)

Naruto sighed.

"What's wrong?" The blonde looked up at Gaara who was braiding Kaiva's hair. Silky black locks easily fell into place as the red head wove them together into a loose rope that ended at Kaiva's waist.

"I don't know," Naruto mumbled, "We have all this stuff, but I still don't ..." He frowned, fishing around for words to describe the sting in his chest. Kaiva slipped out of Gaara's grasp and plopped down next to Naruto, gold coins clinging down the mountain he sat atop. "Let me guess," Kaiva said, stretching out hands and slipping them around Naruto's head, "I'm good at guessing!" Naruto shut his eyes and felt Kaiva press their foreheads together.

"_Hmm_ ..."

Gaara watched warily but curiously as Kaiva's eyes flickered open and closed and open again several times.

"It's that feeling," came a whisper, "that longing to fill ..." Violet eyes opened.

"There's a void in you that you want to fill," Kaiva guessed, and Naruto's eyes opened.

"That's it! That's what I felt!" He grinned. "You're good at guessing."

"Me."

Both Kaiva and Naruto turned to stare at Gaara, who had come closer and was sitting at the foot of the mountain of gold they were seated upon.

"If you can tell what Naruto is feeling, tell me what I feel."

Naruto's eyes narrowed with some sadness. "Because you can't tell, either?"

Gaara nodded and Kaiva jumped off the pile, arms in the air. Two strong arms cushioned the fall, and Kaiva rolled out of Gaara's outstretched arms and brought their heads together. After a few moments of silence, the violet eyes opened again.

"The same."

Jade eyes narrowed in confusion. "But what ..." Kaiva knew his question. "What is it?"

Gaara nodded. "What is it? I feel ... strange. Like I can't sit still. Like I need ..." he looked out the window on the other side of the room, and his eyes slowly widened as he spoke, "... like I need to run, to explode into the air with wings, like I need to feel something that I can'tthat I'm not feeling now ... like I need to prove something."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Like we need to use the powerOUR power."

The two former containers locked eyes, and memories of Kyuubi and Shukaku flashed before them both. Words exchanged were recalled. Warnings. Warnings specifically against what they were feeling they needed to do.

"They said not to," Naruto said softly.

Kaiva looked back and forth between the two, and stood, and left the room silently without either boy's notice.

"They said not to try our new powers."

The red head thought hard. "They did say that," he agreed slowly, "but they said we needed to keep it in check. They said nothing about testing it." The blonde looked troubled, and Gaara spread his arms. "You said you felt it, too ..." Naruto's hand flew to his chest, and the hollow rumble echoed again in his heart. He knew that something had to be done … this enormous chakara he had was burning to be spent, even just a little. He had held back as much as he could, but every day it got harder ...

A hand drew around his cheek and a pair of lips met his own. Naruto leaned forwards, his own hand reaching up to grasp the other boy's hair softly. The lips parted softly and then left, and Naruto opened his eyes.

"It hurts," he whispered, and Gaara let him bury his head in the crook of his neck, "it hurts to hold back, but they said we have to. We have to."

"We will," Gaara decided. If it meant so much to Naruto, then

Both boys shot upright. The stench of strangers, just outside the fortress. They wreaked of the hidden forest.

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

… _hey_

**wanna know a secret?**

It's real simple …

… _read the review responces to see if your reviews were replied to. Some of my responces include hints about future chapters. _

… yeah.

_Later …_

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

end

..oo00oo..

..oo00oo..

Anyway, I know it's short, but I have to do lots of homework and school work and who am I kidding I just want to see if anyone would remember me if I let it go for a while. Not.

I seriously got stuck behind with homework and my own personal thoughts. Serious stuff, thoughts and writer's block, but I didn't wanna tell you that … I can deal with my own problems, why burden (or bother) my reviewers/readers? You guys have it tough waiting for me. T-T so slow …

Oh well. With exams coming up, I can't afford to slip. I'm missing serious cramming hours by updating. This is foreshadowing a little wait before chapter 15-possibly a week's worth, but nothing like the month it took me to update this time. -;; gomen about that …

**Responding to reviews:**

**Blisblop**: … wow. That has got to be the most complete analysis of anything I've ever had. You are an amazing critique, and I am honored that you would grace this fic w/ your skills. (bows)

**Altariel** **Eldalote**: It might be an excellent plothole, but I actually have a plan for those things which will be discovered somewhere around chapter, what, 18? 19? - … I'm no good with corny-ness. T-T oh well. Glad you liked! The rain scene? I do random and thoughtful spoofs like that when it pours. I did it after I had to walk home a mile in the rain. (grins)

**inuyasha-sakura**: of course I shall keep writing. Thanks for reviewing!

**TFI-Muse**: of course your reviews count-they motivate me beyond your wildest dreams, just as flames make me quiver in fear. - everything effects me so … sorry about the typos, I'll try to minimize them.

**DeAtHaNgEL-LaVeNdA**: yay! You reviewed! I'll look for more updates on your story, too! - This is fun!

**Ruby Heart**: I love you. 'What's wrong with Iruka? He's gone … more insane …' I love you! absolutely no Sasu/Neji in this chapter, but it had to deal with the Akatsuki, because the story was going off-plot. Gotta stay on track.

**ranma hibiki:** Nope, they didn't wake him up. Naruto did discover where he is, and that might be helpful in the future …

-later


	15. Relaxing

**Chapter 15: Relaxing**

**100 REVIEWS! Hell Yeah! **(inner author does V-dance)

Anyway ... This chapter is slightly Kankuro and Tenmari and 'good-feelings' centric. It's great, though ... I really thought it was good. Tell me what you think after you read it. I'll work on getting action down, but right now I'm focusing on taking things slow. Stuff is falling apart at school, but I really don't mind. In fact, I think I LIKE my downwards spiral into the inescapable tunnel of homework and darkness ... maybe I'm mad/insane. Oh well. That's what makes this fic so cool! - well, cool to me, at least ... whatever.

Wow ... someone tell me if this was a quick update because I didn't edit this chapter yet. I just realized that. Oh well.

Read!

(_response to reviews at bottom of page_)

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

The ANBU captain looked over his shoulder and nodded. At the silent signal, all six members switched their masks out and hid their gear under a cloak. They hid their true faces using a simple genjutsu and then continued walking. One of the men made what appeared to be a wave of his hand. The other ANBU read the motions; a question asked to the entire group: _was it safe to speak?_ The leader considered and then nodded.

"All right," came a relieved voice from his left. "I was afraid that we'd never get to talk."

"I'm surprised that you managed as long as you did," came the taunting voice of another man as they walked at a leisurely pace through the trees, "you always end our missions early because of that mouth."

"Aw, shut it, Rob, I don't talk that much!"

"Yes you do, Shu," grinned another man, grabbing the protesting Shu in a headlock, "you have to be the loudest ANBU in a century!"

"Stop all the unnecessary racket," said the leader curtly, then more gently, "besides, we're here to relax and look around."

"What'cha lookin' for?"

All six men froze and their eyes met the slender form before them. None of the men needed their leader to tell them to wait for the stranger to make the first move. "Are you all lost?" asked the nameless stranger again, "I can help you find a way back." The leader relaxed a little. _'This person might still be a threat, but if I relax a bit, maybe we can learn a few things.'_ He cleared his throat, letting the others know he was going to do all the talking.

"My name's Gin. Who're you?"

"Hi Gin-san! My name's Kaiva," said the violet-eyed stranger with a smile, "Where are ya all from? An' why are there so many of you?"

"There are six of us because we're on a vacation," Gin explained, taking a friendly step forwards, "and we're looking around the country. We're strangers here. Do you know if there's anything around here?" The stranger shook his/her head. "Nope. No houses or people, but I can tell you a way back, if you want."

"That's ok," Gin said with a smile, "thanks for the offer, but we're just going to look around for a while." Kaiva nodded and something clicked in Shu's mind and the unmasked ANBU member spoke out. "Wait, hold on a second!" Rob elbowed him in the stomach but he called out to the retreating figure, "Why are you here in the middle of no where?" Gin's eyes narrowed.

"That's the first sensible thing you've asked yet, Shu," he said slowly, turning to face Kaiva, "why **are** you out here in the middle of no where?"

"Come with us!" Kaiva turned around and violet eyes flashed with excitement and the promise of a chase, "Come, run and see what we want to show you!"

With a leap, the black-haired stranger leapt into the trees, and the ANBU followed. Gin flashed several hand signals to the other members fanned out, closing in a half-circle behind Kaiva's fleeing form. Suddenly, it stopped and dropped onto the ground. The men followed, and Gin went in front of the panting form. The violet eyes were hidden behind black bangs on the right side of Kaiva's face, and Gin confronted the strange person (who we still don't know is a girl or guy)

"Who are you really, and what are you doing hiding out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Kaiva's head twisted to the sky and smiled. "Is this far enough?"

"It'll do," came a deep purr from the trees. Shu froze.

"You can come back, Kaiva," came a slightly higher voice, though no less intimidating. '_The voices are definitely men's'_, thought Gin who still had no clue to Kaiva's orientation. The dark-haired person laughed and turned towards the trees. Rob moved to stop him/her, and Kaiva paused, blocked by Rob's slightly taller form. A frown formulated across Kaiva's lips. "Hey, can you move?"

"Don't worry, Kaiva," called a voice from the trees, causing Gin's head to whip around to try and locate the source of the sound, "just stay there. We'll be careful."

"Ok!" Kaiva called cheerfully, plopping down on the ground in a cross-legged position. Rob dropped after him/her and a kunai flashed in his hands. He gripped it to Kaiva's neck and shouted to the trees, "Come out or I'll take off his head!"

"You can't," came a taunting voice from behind Rob, "because it's not '_his_' head."

Gin turned around in time to watch Rob's shocked face fall to the forest floor, along with his head and the kunai next to Kaiva's throat dropped into her lap. She smiled at the remaining men. "When this hits the ground, you'll all be gone." Shu's eyes widened and he shot off into the trees. Gin called after him to stop as Kaiva tossed the kunai knife into the air. Shu's movement stopped and there was the resounding echo of three bodies hitting the ground with dull thuds. Gin backed up, trying to keep his cool and think.

"It's a good tactic," mused Naruto in his ear, "but not against us."

Gin's head fell to the ground as the kunai landed in the dirt next to him.

Naruto leaped over to Kaiva and tackled her to the ground. "_Oooohhh_! Are you ok!"

"Yes, yes, I'm ok!" cheered Kaiva as they hugged and then started wrestling with Naruto as Gaara walked over to them, his sand trailing behind him on the floor like a second shadow. Gaara sat on the ground as Naruto and Kaiva let go of each other, turning to face Gaara with serious expressions. "Now ..." Kaiva sat back, putting her arms behind her back and leaning her head on one shoulder, her black bangs falling into the right side of her face, "... how do you think it should work?" Naruto crossed his legs on the ground and his arms over his chest and frowned. "That's a good question, Kaiva-chan," he said, "it has to impact both the sand and the leaf. Iruka-chan in Konoha has already told the current Hokage where we are. Judging on what little we know of her from Iruka-chan, she won't react to anything short of an attempt on the villagers or her own life, so it has to be big."

"But it can't be us," Gaara intervened, "just a representation of our power." He turned to look at the violet-eyed girl who was staring up into the sky, mouth hanging open in a smile.

Naruto cocked his head to one side. "Do you _wanna_ kill Kaiva, Gaa-chan?" Gaara's eyes snapped to meet Naruto's. "Hn?"

"You keep looking at her with this weird expression ... creepy ..." Naruto paused and licked his lips, "... and yummy." Gaara looked at Kaiva.

Kaiva tilted her head to the side.

"Why would I want to kill her?" Gaara asked himself aloud. Naruto shrugged. "I dunno. That's the way you look when I talk about Konoha." For a moment, his eyes drooped, eyelids half-covering his hazy purple-blue irises. "When we talk about the people we fought a long, long time ago." Gaara's eyes softened, the yellow slits down the middle of his eyes flashing turquoise for just a moment, and Naruto offered Kaiva a fox-like grin. The dark-haired girl returned it and they promptly tackled the cloudy-eyed red head to the ground with a THUMP. It took Gaara a moment to clear the polka-dotted raccoons away from his eyes before he sat up and looked at the two seriously again.

"I don't wanna kill Kaiva ... It'd be like ... killing Haku."

Naruto's eyes softened and a smile replaced his grin. "Exactly." Gaara nodded and leaned over to lay his head on the blonde's shoulder. Kaiva held out her hands in a rectangle and shut her eyes, whispering '_click_' to herself. The blonde shut his own eyes as Kaiva scrambled over to them and placed their foreheads together. The image of Gaara laying his head on Naruto's shoulder floated through their minds, and as Naruto blinked his eyes open, the image didn't shatter but rippled away, still locked in their memories. Gaara's eyes opened.

"You're telepathic?"

"What's a telly-pathetic?" asked Kaiva with wide purple eyes.

Gaara didn't answer and took her in his arms, her back against his chest (1). She blinked and shut her eyes. The red head thought about everything he and Naruto had been through, and about Naruto's pain. He thought about losing Haku and Itachi and then finding Itachi again. He thought about how they'd trained their bodies for months until they finally reached a level to where the demons couldn't hold back and were taken in completely by the seals. Kaiva felt Gaara's thoughts and the warmth from his heart, which began to beat more rapidly against her back. She shut her eyes and thought of Naruto, who she hadn't known for long. She thought about Gaara, who she hadn't known for long either. Kaiva's next thoughts echoed in Gaara's head ... '_I've known them for so little a time ... yet, we're all at peace with each other.'_

And something clicked. Gaara opened his eyes.

"Naruto?" The blonde looked at the red head. "Mm?"

"How long do you think it will take to find Tenmari?"

_(A/N: -1- is explained at bottom of page)_

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"All right," grumbled Shikamaru, "I win."

Tenmari folded her arms across her chest. "Of course you won. You always win!"

"Then you'll come with me to the Hokage's office without a fuss," Shikamaru asked as he cleared the stones off the Go board. Tenmari gave a sigh and shrugged. "I guess. I don't have much else to do." She stood up, stretching her long legs and then gave a hop forwards. "Well," she chirped, slinging an arm around Shikamaru's neck, "let's go!"

They made their way through the streets, running into Chouji on the way. The chestnut-haired boy had grown into a slightly heavy teenager, not exactly the most attractive looking thing, but his smile distracted almost anyone from his stomach. Shikamaru gave him a nod as the plump chuunin fell into pace with them, chuckling to himself and asking Tenmari if she wanted to share some small candied rolls with him. The blonde accepted, picking a slightly pink roll from the four that Chouji held out. The round chuunin chuckled to himself as she popped one in her mouth, Chouji taking half a bite out of the white one. Shikamaru picked a blue ball from the other boy's hand and popped the whole thing in his mouth at once, trying not to wince as a sour sting filled his mouth. Tenmari and Chouji suppressed giggles and laughter respectively as Shikamaru shuddered and walked along with a mostly calm (and slightly red) face.

As they made it inside, Tenmari gave Shikamaru a nod and turned down a corridor. "I'll leave you two down here unless you want to wait for me outside the doors." Shikamaru shook his head and Chouji waved to her as she bounded off towards the Hokage's office.

"Awful nice of you to walk with her, Shika," said Chouji as he swallowed the other half of his own candy. Shikamaru shrugged as Chouji sat down, scooting over to let the other chuunin sit as well.

"Hey," Shikamaru said as he looked after the direction Tenmari went, "did you hear the rumors?"

Chouji blinked down at him. "About Uchiha-kun's new technique? The barbeque that's at the Hyuuga's for Hanabi-san's thirteenth birthday? Sakura's plans to become a teacher? That Neji-kun and Hinata-san have both requested to become ANBU?"

Shikamaru didn't look too surprised that Chouji knew about all of these things. "The last one was close." Chouji thought hard and then gave Shikamaru a secretive look.

"The last ANBU mission?"

Shikamaru nodded. "They haven't returned. They exceeded their time limit of a week. Tsunade said she might send out another team to call them back."

Chouji frowned. Shikamaru blinked and looked up at him. "Hmm?"

"... it's nothing," said Chouji with a soft chuckle, "I was just thinking." Shikamaru shrugged. "Whatever."

He leaned his head back against Chouji's arm and shut his eyes.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Tsunade looked up as Tenmari slipped into her office. "Tenmari-san!"

"Hokage-sama! It's good to see you looking so alert. And awake, at that." Tsunade sweatdropped and waved the other girl in. "Come on in, come in, take a seat!" Tenmari helped herself to the seat directly across from the older blonde and crossed her arms.

"It's been a long time since you called me up here for any kind of mission," Tenmari began conversationally, looking at Tsunade over the desk. The Hokage's table was laden with unsigned papers and an unused cigarette tray. The Hokage herself looked like she was irritated from lack of sleep. She'd probably been up all night again signing papers and reading reports of various ANBU missions. The blonde looked across the table at Tenmari and folded her hands together, elbows resting on the desk as she looked at the chuunin before her.

"It has been a long time, but I think you'd be best suited to the mission I have for you now. It involves the Sand."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Kankuro looked across the desk at the Kazekage. "It will be done," he murmured softly, and the Kazekage nodded.

"Good. You can leave at any time. You're dismissed, Kankuro."

The painted face nodded and left the room. As the door shut behind him, two voices piped up.

"'Kuro-chan!"

"'Kuro-nii-chan!"

Two pairs of arms glomped onto either leg and Kankuro looked down at the two twins.

"Rui, Hari, you guys got into the Kazekage tower? Where's your mom?"

"Over here," called a voice. Kankuro looked up and smiled softly. A slim, busty girl with shoulder-length jade-green hair drawn into braids on either side of her head was jogging over to the group of three, her chest bouncing as she moved. "Hi, Kankuro-kun! What's up? New mission from the Hokage?"

"Yeah," Kankuro grumbled, putting a hand behind his head, "The Kazekage wants me to go to Konoha. The Hokage evidentially sent a message to Kazekage-sama asking for a peace treaty."

"Not an alliance?" asked the green-haired girl curiously. Kankuro shook his head.

"Nah. Just peace. We're in no military shape for alliances yet, and I imagine after all the leaf's gone through they won't be jumping for any alliances any time soon." Kankuro smiled and picked up Rui with one hand. The boy jerked and squirmed to no avail as Kankuro held him by the ankle up-side-down. "'Kuro-chan! Lemme down!" Kankuro smirked and shook the red head a little more. "Not a chance, Rui-kun." The little boy gave a yell of frustration and called for his sister. Hari jumped and caught his hands, yanking hard. Kankuro laughed and released her brother, causing them to topple to the floor, Hari crushed under her twin's weight. The blue-haired kid gave a yelp as her brother landed on her and the green-haired mother gave a laugh, her chest jiggling as she giggled. Kankuro sighed and looked at what he would call his 'family' or brothers and sisters, at least.

Rui, the red-haired, green-eyed kid that was shy around everyone but him and his sister and mother.

His mother, Diana, was something like Tenmari to him. She was twenty-one, even though she didn't look it.

Hari, the blue-haired, brown-eyed kid that was polite and gentle and loved dandelions, even if they were weeds.

After his father died and Tenmari left to the leaf, he was left completely alone. He faintly recalled having Gaara as a brother, but the little tyrant had gone awol when he was six. There wasn't much to recall. But Kankuro had always wondered about his little brother. Growing up without him, knowing that he might have had a little brother, even if he did seem sadistic and evil the last time he'd seen him, had made Kankuro an honest, modest, humble man. Often he'd wondered about his little brother, as had Tenmari, but they'd gotten along without him. With a smile, he laughed at himself. Here he was, with a mission from the Kazekage, thinking about his family. It seemed fitting that he'd think of his most precious people before any mission. Diana frowned. "Kankuro-kun? What's funny?"

Kankuro kissed Diana's cheek, the green-haired girl bringing a hand to her cheek as her face flushed red.

"Nothing's funny," Kankuro said with a grin as he picked up Rui and Hari and hoisted them onto his shoulders, the twins giving shouts of glee as their 'big-brother' picked them up, "I'm just enjoying the things that I have."

Diana smiled as the blush faded. "I'm glad, Kankuro. Now go on, you've got a mission to get to." Kankuro nodded, handing her Rui who groaned but went to his mother. Hari held onto Kankuro's neck.

"Don't wanna go," she pouted, "Don't want 'Kuro-nii-chan to leave!"

The green-haired girl smiled and gently took her daughter from the tall boy's neck. Kankuro smiled and patted both twins on the head before turning around.

"I'll bring you something good from the Leaf," he called over his shoulder. Diana smiled and the twins waved at his back. Kankuro waved behind him and disappeared in a puff of smoke at the end of the hall.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Tenmari sat on the top of Konoha's gate. "Well," she sighed, looking at her shadow and reading the time, "I guess that's it."

Looking down, she called to the gate guard and he wave at her, and she nodded. Tenmari stood and unclasped the fan from her back, and gave a giant sweep, flinging herself and the fan into the air. The guard watched her sail over the trees before she was out of sight.

Tenmari let the fan carry her for a few seconds until she was a good distance away from the Leaf. Then she dropped into the trees, nipping her thumb and running it down her fan. With a wave, a large, sleek-coated ferret appeared. It looked at Tenmari and then sniffed the air. Then, it gave a whine.

"Aw, come on! I don't wanna be a transporter; I do the slash and hack much better!" Tenmari grinned. Usually, when calling an animal, they'd know their job by scent, by sniffing out what kind of enemy they had to face. Without an enemy, they knew immediately if the summoner wanted a ride or information. Tenmari looked at the whining ferret before her. She'd called up one of her favorite ferrets. True, he was much better at slicing and dicing, but he was also as fast as greased lightning.

"Shut it, fur ball," she teased, jumping onto his back, "You're the fastest ferret we know. Now get a move on; we're heading towards home."

The ferret gave a yip and Tenmari gripped its coat with chakara, making sure her fan was secure on her back before the dark ferret shot off into the forest at three times the speed her fan had carried her at.

Tenmari let him travel in silence and she put her head in his fur, sighing. The warmth was welcome, and she reveled in it. The ferret, (we'll call it Senka) Senka, had known her since she signed her contract. In fact, he was the one that offered it to her. She'd had to catch him, first, and that had proved almost impossible at the time. She was ten and he was younger, but half as fast. Still, half his speed was twice her own speed at the time, and she'd waited until he fell asleep to finally catch him. The reluctant ferret admitted that she was smart enough but not strong enough, to which she responded by dangling some fish in front of him and bonked him over the head with a branch while he was distracted. He called her a cheater, she gave him the fish, and they had been friends ever since.

"Oi, human," called the ferret as it slowed down, "I gotta stop-there's another human in twenty miles an' closing." Tenmari shook herself out of her thoughts and nodded. "All right! Thanks, I'll handle it from here." Senka stopped, two huge paw marks in the trees he'd used for breaking, and he allowed Tenmari to climb off his back before he vanished in a puff of smoke. The blonde smiled and then turned forwards.

She started walking in the direction Senka had been taking her, unstrapping her fan just in case. She paused after going a good mile, and looked in the trees.

"I know you're there," she called, surprising the person hidden in the trees, "come on out." There was some rustling and a form in black landed thirty feet away from her. She frowned. _'Too close for comfort,_' she thought as she put one hand on her hip and the other leaned on her fan. She'd gotten a bigger fan for her last birthday; this one made her original fan look like a toy wind-mil on a stick. The stranger wore black shirt and pants that reached half-down his calves, revealing bandages on his lower legs that stopped at his blue sandals. Tenmari hadn't looked his face yet, and got a surprise upon doing so. Deep brown eyes glistened back at her and she froze. Paint covered his face, and he was carrying a small backpack with several bandages trailing out from the top. Tenmari couldn't believe her eyes.

"Ka ... Kankuro? Is that you?" The brown-eyed boy offered Tenmari as smile as he took off his pack. "Hey, big sister. How've you been?"

Tenmari was good at controlling her emotions. Really, she was. It was just this one time that she allowed tears to well up in her eyes as she flung herself in her little brother's outstretched arms. They tumbled onto the dirt as Kankuro laughed, Tenmari laughing with him as she hugged him around his broad chest. "Kankuro-baka! I missed you... how's home?"

She rolled off her little brother as he dusted his shirt off, laughing. "Home's great, Tenmari. Wow." He looked over his big sister with a grin, letting his eyes roll over her body without shame, and she flushed. "Kankuro!" she shouted playfully, shoving her brother as he eyed her very good-looking body, "cut it _out_!" Kankuro gave a laugh and then moved his eyes back to her face. He darted in to peck her cheeks, and Tenmari smiled.

"Gosh, it's good to see you again, Ten. Gosh, it's great." Tenmari nodded, letting her eyes run over her brother's body in turn.

"Yeah," she said slowly, eyes widening as she realized that her 'little' brother was all of three inches taller than her, "gosh ..."

She pointed at him. "You're ... you're HUGE!"

Kankuro grinned. "I eat all my vegetables," he cracked before they dissolved into laughter again.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"All right," Naruto called, pushing his blonde bangs from his face, "Gaa-chan, I'm done!"

Kaiva looked up from her own work. "Wow!" Naruto grinned as Kaiva poked the clone's face, "it's so cute," she decided, "very cute!" She kissed its cheek and the clone frowned, blushing and putting a hand on its cheek. Gaara stood in front of the clone and gave it a looking over. "... All right," he said, backing away. Kaiva looked at Gaara with a smile. "Did you finish, Gaara?"

"Not yet."

"I'm done," she announced, pointing to her own clone. Gaara saw the clone and he froze. "It ... looks like ..."

It looked like a boy with long, black-brown hair with blank, white eyes.

_He grit his teeth and spat out, "Get **off** of me!"_

"_Stop struggling ... I'll crush you."_

Gaara's eyes widened.

Naruto smiled at Kaiva, not realizing that Gaara's sand was swirling furiously. Suddenly, the sand latched onto the clone and before Kaiva or Naruto could stop it, the sand closed violently around the clone, causing it to implode. Smoke hissed out from the sand like steam and disappeared. Kaiva pouted. "Hey ..." Gaara's eyes were slightly wide and he was panting, glaring at the ground where the clone had once stood. Naruto looked at Gaara's back with soft eyes. The red head suddenly realized what he'd done and jerked away from the two others.

"I'm ... I'm going to work on my clone," he growled. Naruto looked at Kaiva after Gaara was gone.

"Why?"

"Why did I give it white eyes?" Naruto nodded. "Because I couldn't decide what color they should be. I wanted to ask him, but ..." She frowned, looking at the place where her clone once stood. "Why did he make it go away?" she asked, looking back to Naruto with a questioning gaze. Naruto looked at his own clone and shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know. But it'll be ok."

Kaiva smiled and nodded. "Duh."

They looked at each other and giggled like they were sharing a terrible secret, and continued working.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Dusk found the reunited brother and sister in the same place they'd met hours ago, the brother leaning against the base of a tree and the sister with her head on his shoulder. Kankuro looked at the trees and remembered something. "Hey," he said suddenly, Tenmari blinking her eyes open, "I have a mission that concerns the leaf." Tenmari frowned. "What a surprise," she said, sounding genuinely surprised, "so do I."

She sat up and looked at Kankuro levelly. The two siblings paused and then exchanged information. When they were done, Kankuro laughed. "What are the chances that WE would both be given the same mission?"

"I'd say they're good," said Tenmari with a slight smirk, "I also say that Tsunade knew about this ..." Kankuro cocked an eyebrow. " 'Tsunade'?"

"The current Hokage."

"Ah." Kankuro grinned. "A female Kage ... intersting."

Tenmari looked at her fan and then at her brother. "Well," she said, putting her hands behind her head, "we have to make a decision. Our missions are basically the same; all we need to do is either go back to the leaf or the Sand. Where do you think we should go?"

"Let's go back home," he said, jumping to his feet, surprising Tenmari, "Let's go back to the Sand. Tenmari, there are people I want you to meet! There's so much stuff you've missed that I ..." He paused, smiling to himself. "That I want you to see and know. Tenmari, let's go home." Tenmari hesitated. _'Home ... the Sand is home. I guess. But the Leaf is now my home, too.'_ She looked at her fan. _'Now I have two homes ... twice as many precious people ...'_ Kankuro took her hand. "Come on, sis."

The blonde smiled, warmth enveloping her heart and body. Her brother smiled back as Tenmari rubbed a tear out of her eye.

"All right. Let's go home."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"Are you serious?"

"Go home!"

Hinata's scowl deepened. "I will **not**."

Neji placed his hand on her shoulder and sent the guards a piercing glare which they cowered under; he'd activated his Byakugan and the blackness of his eyes screamed and was drawn into a tight black circle of fire in the middle of his eyes.

"Don't waste your breath," he hissed, "We **will** see the Hokage." The two guards quivered but stood their ground.

"Oi," came a lazy voice from behind the group, "what's this?"

Neji dropped his Byakugan and turned to face the voice. "We were trying to see the Hokage," he explained, and Hinata nodded. Then, she turned a malicious gaze onto the guards, who shook again. "However, these rude gentlemen will not permit us to pass."

"How rude of them," the lazy jounin drawled, then, in a sharper tone, "Move it, you two." The guards flinched and then disappeared in two puffs of smoke. Hinata's face lost its scowl and Neji smiled at her. "You're much prettier when you don't frown like that, Hinata-sama," he claimed, a blush spreading across his cousin's face. "T-Thanks to Kakashi-sensei. If he hadn't c-come, we'd ..." Kakashi shrugged and Hinata blushed, a small smile squirming onto her face.

"Don't worry about it," he said, waving his hand before pushing open the door for them, "go on inside. Tsunade needs a break anyway." The two Hyuuga hurried into the office and shut the doors behind them. Kakashi sighed and disappeared off to see if a certain Haruno had completed her medical check on a very special patient.

Inside the office, Neji and Hinata were invited to sit before the Hokage, which they did. However, after requesting to be put in the ANBU exams and then being declined immediately, they shot to their feet again.

"WHAT! I can understand my handicap, but there's no reason why Hinata cannot be a member of the ANBU!" Neji shouted, Hinata making a similar statement for her cousin.

"Neji-kun may be blind but his strength far surpasses that of gennin and chuunin rank! If not the ANBU, then the jounin exams he should be admitted to!"

"Please, please!" shouted Tsunade over the two Hyuuga, "settle down! I'll tell you why I'm declining, both of you. First off, the ANBU are going to be needed these next few weeks while we wait for an answer from the Sand. I've sent Tenmari-san out to negotiate."

"Alone!"

"Yes, **alone**," repeated Tsunade, "I know she can handle herself. Plus, the Kazekage has sent a relative of hers to negotiate as well, so there should be little hostility. Now, every ANBU will be grounded from missions until the peace treaties are signed. I can't deal with an ANBU test, especially if there's only two participants."

"What about Shikamaru and Ino and Sasuke and Kiba! There are plenty of gennin and chuunin out there that you _know_ would make excellent ANBU mem-"

"**QUIET**!" shouted Tsunade, shocking Hinata and Neji back into their chairs. The two Hyuuga were stunned at the volume of her voice, and didn't dare to interrupt her again. "Now ... listen. I can't deal with an ANBU test, even with more than five participants. I need ANBU as well as jounin there to watch you and make sure you have what it takes. Plus, you can't request to become an ANBU without at least two jounin backing your decision. Becoming an ANBU is serious step up in your lives. You'll be watched, if not by us then by your fellow ANBU members. Second, you're not ANBU material at the moment-you're teenagers; you have hormones, and you'll be easily baited by an enemy."

She turned to face Neji, who jumped at the sudden attention.

"Neji--what would happen if someone was dangling Sasuke's life by a string, and the only way to save him would be to abandon your mission? What would you say?"

"I'd save him, of course," growled Neji, angry that the Hokage would doubt his feelings for the other boy.

"Of _course_ you would," said Tsunade with a calm, cool voice that resembled the impassive face of a glacier, "which is why you don't fit the qualifications." Neji's eyes widened and then lowered their gaze. Hinata looked at the floor. Tsunade felt bad about putting it this way, but she had to say it.

"I know you and Sasuke and Kiba and Shikamaru are all strong, but you're still just children. Not by age, not by body, but in mind and heart. You'd give your lives to save the ones you love without second thoughts to the people you leave behind. There are things out there that you're just not ready for."

Hinata's head was bowed now, and Tsunade couldn't see her eyes. Neji's head was turned sideways in a similar fashion. The blonde sighed.

"Hey," she called over the desk, "listen. I'll remember this request, and maybe when the time comes for the jounin tests, I'll recommend you two."

The Hyuuga looked up in surprise, and then nodded. For the jounin exams, you needed someone that was already a jounin to recommend you. For the Hokage to recommend anyone ... Both Hyuugas were blushing now. Tsunade grinned to herself. _'Man, kids these days.'_

"All right, let's move!" she called, startling the cousins as she waved at them to leave, "I haven't got all day to do this paperwork. You two take care!"

Neji stood, Hinata quick to follow. They bowed and left the room.

Outside, Kakashi was leaning against the wall, head in his orange novel. Hinata was surprised to see him there. "Back already?" Kakashi nodded. Neji shut the doors behind him. "How's Itachi-san?" Kakashi looked up from his book for a moment and then returned to it. "Same." Hinata's smile drooped a little. Neji looked thoughtful and then took her arm. "Come on, Hinata-chan," he said playfully, startling her and Kakashi, "let's get some ice cream. I think we deserve a treat after a session like that." Hinata blushed lightly as her cousin dragged her down the hall, ignoring her protests and comments about her concern for his mental health.

Kakashi chuckled to himself.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"Look! I have finally completed it! This is truly a day to remember!"

"Lee, you're attracting attention ..."

"But Ino-chan, this is the greatest moment in my life! I have finally made my dream come true!"

"Other than the dream of marrying Sakura?"

The green-clad boy blushed red as a tomato, and Ino grinned at him. "Ah. Right. You look ready for Christmas, alright." Lee's flush darkened. Ino turned from him and rose her spoon into the air.

"All right! Let's do this!"

"Do what?"

Ino turned around, glaring at the pink-haired girl in the doorway of the ice cream parlor. "Sakura! How nice of you to join us! Iruka-sensei give you an early leave from your internship for good?"

"Nah, we just finished some extra papers early and gave me the rest of the day off," Sakura confirmed as she sat next to Lee, who flushed again. "I really think I'm getting the hang of the job!"

"O-Of course!" exclaimed Lee, pumping his fist into the air, "Of course Sakura-chan would quickly master the challenge of becoming a teacher! You never cease to astound and amaze me with your talent and beauty, Sakura-chan!"

"Lee? Ino's eating all the ice cream,"

Lee jumped and struck a nice-guy pose. "I swear to you, Sakura-chan and Ino-chan, we will finish this ice cream to the very last sugary drop!"

With that, he dug in next to Ino at the base of a 100-scoop ice cream Grand Super Scooper with extra hot fudge and whipped cream and five cherries perched like ambrosia at the very peak.

Sakura sighed and grabbed a spoon and dug in.

Neji and Hinata walked into the store as Sakura and Ino did paper-rock-scissors for the last of the strawberry scoops while Lee stole it away. The two girls looked up from their game of which was a draw to see Hinata and Neji walk in.

"Hey, Neji-kun, Hinata-chan! Come on over and help us out!" The two Hyuuga stared at the mountain-like ice cream.

"Are you seriously going to try to finish all that by yourselves?" asked Hinata as she grabbed two spoons and pushed one into Neji's hand, dragging her wide-eyed cousin over to the table, "come on, Neji! We must help them!"

"You can't be serious," said Neji weakly as he stared up at the massive pile of flavors.

"We sure are," said Ino through a mouthful of rocky road, "15 scoops down, 85 to go. Dig in."

"That has got to be the most painful and delicious form of suicide I've ever heard of," drawled Shikamaru as he and Chouji walked into the shop, "Death by ice cream."

"Try it," suggested Sakura through a spoonful of chocolate, "It's sugary."

Chouji grabbed two spoons from the main counter and Shikamaru grumbled, but dug into a scoop with a smirk. "Cinnamon?" asked Chouji as Shikamaru licked the spoon over twice.

"Works for me," he said as they dug in.

Kiba and Akamaru looked in through the window of the ice cream shop later that day with Sasuke. Lee was standing over a bowl of nothing with a spoon in his fist in his nice-guy pose. Sakura was holding her stomach, leaning on Ino, who was leaning back on her, holding her stomach as well. Shikamaru was staring at Chouji, who was eating three cherries at once. Neji was eating a cherry, licking his fingers daintily, and Hinata had her head on the table and her arms around her stomach.

Kiba looked at Sasuke, who looked back at Kiba.

"Do you wanna know?"

"Not really."

"Then we don't need to."

Both boys turned and continued down the street, Akamaru barking.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

end.

**1**)- Ok, I made Kaiva for specific reasons. **1**, she is here to keep the plot going. if she wasn't here, I would dive straight into GaaNaru smut and I hate writing smut. **2**, i like her. if you don't, too bad. (pouts) please don't flame about her ... she doesn't last too long ... and **3**, she is the one who will point out various things that I'm trying to make obvious (and failing horribly at).

Hey, tell me what you expect of my chapters ... like, do you not see enough of fighting or thinking etc ...

Someone tell me if I'm working this stuff right. Tell me what you want out of this, and I'll see if I can squeeze it out of my brains. I'm getting writer's block, and comments are always welcome. Heck, flames sometimes inspire stuff, but flames will be used to annoy my Avatar fic, which has reviews. I'm so proud of it ... it's like a little brother/sister to this fic. (sniffs)

oh!

**Responding to reviews:**

**Altariel Eldalote:** Yay! I love it when you review! I like a good relationship with reviewers. If you were someone I could find, I'd give you a cookie-a real, honest to goodness cookie. Kaiva is (obviously and mentioned above) a girl. She'll only last a few chapters, and then she'll either die or disappear. If people like her, she won't die. I didn't think as many people would like her as did... Sorry! Didn't get to see much of Naruto and Gaara's power. But there was some blood. Which felt good. -

**Inuyasha-sakura: **Yeah, new character. As mentioned in the above responce, she might not last long if people start to think she's a mary-sue, cauz' she's not. 6-6 Oh well. Anywat, thanks for reviewing!

**Ruby Heart: **I'll remember it's sennin. Very good! I did get the idea of Infinity Fortress from there, but I'm modifying it to be more ... Naruto-y. Very good again! If Naruto and Gaara didn't exercise some of their chakra, they would start hurting ... of course, keep this in mind for later chapters ...

**DeAtHaNgEl-LaVeNdA: **Yay! You reviewed! I wish I could give you and Eld a cookie. - You always review, even when I take forever to update ... don't worry, I update/review from school all the time.

**Ranma Hibiki: **Yes, Iruka told Tsunade where Naruto and Gaara are. Of course, he got information straight from the source. Mayhaps I shall reveal how ... but later! Later.

**TFI-Muse: ** Oh, don't be depressed! Look, I updated quickly again just for you and the group of five. See, you and Eld and Ruby Heart are totaly loyal and have reviewed like every chapter. I seriously think that you five are the only reason (besides an urge in my heart and head) that I keep up with this fic. (sighs) Sorry that the last chapter didn't answer any of your questions, but I don't know what they are? Tell me what questions to answer, and they shall be fufilled ... (look at me, I'm a genie:) ...)

Thanks to my loyal reviewers! Love ya!

ciao


	16. Crooked Smiles

**Chapter 16: Crooked Smiles**

Author notes: I was sick over the entire spring break. I didn't write a word. I was hacking up my lungs and now I'm deaf in my left ear. These things however are not responsible for the crappiness of this chapter, and I hope that your spring breaks (if you had any) did not suck as much a-s-s as mine did.

Sorry (before you read it) for this chapter's crappy-ness.

Responses to reviews posted at bottom of page.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Kakashi looked up. Itachi moved.

"Hnn ..."

The jounin's visible eye shot open and he was at the side of the bed instantly. The dark-haired man shifted in his slumber, turning over and making a soft humming noise. The machine tracking his progress beat faster, and Kakashi held his breath. Moments later, he swallowed and tried out his voice.

"Itachi?"

The black-haired man turned over again, and murmured, just loud enough for Kakashi to hear, "... five more minutes, mom ..."

Kakashi made the seals necessary for a kage bunshin and dashed out of the room, his clone picking up the orange novel he'd left behind, visible eye wandering over the pages of the book to carefully watch Itachi's rustling.

"Itachi ... wake up."

"No," came the protestant murmur as the machines tracking Itachi's progress in the coma began to beat slower, "I don't wanna get up, yet, mom ..."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"I want to be an ANBU."

"No."

Dark black eyes narrowed. "Hokage-sama, I meet all the requirements needed, and I have more than one jounin who will support my decision!"

Tsunade looked up boredly. "Really? That's nice, Sasuke, but you still need my approval, and it's not given."

The frustrated Uchiha's face contracted even more. "_Why_. _Not_?" he ground out between clenched teeth, trying to calm the trembling fists at his sides.

"For the same reason I've declined every other offer from the kids of your generation, Sasuke -- I'm having a peace treaty negotiated with the Kazekage now. We're agreeing that it'd be best to focus our efforts on another-" She paused, and glared at Sasuke. "I refuse, and that's all you need to know."

Sasuke slammed a fist (without chakra) into her desk, and the fraction broke off, splinters flying into the floor and his exposed forelegs. "Then I'll leave," he growled, "There are other villages who'll let me become ANBU."

The blonde's eyes narrowed. "Uchiha Sasuke, I suggest not threatening to leave. And stop vandalizing my room." A broken lamp and chair already lay to the left and right of her now crumbling desk, and she really didn't want to have to deal with pardoning more of this brat's crimes. Sasuke didn't give a shit (A/N: sorry! bad language).

"I'm leaving. It's not a threat, that's a _promise_. I'm leaving, and if Neji can't be an ANBU either, then he can come with me."

Tsunade almost laughed. "What, are you going to take every kid I've told can't be an ANBU out of the village?"

"If they really want to be an ANBU, they'll come with me," he growled, his voice just an octave above a snarl. Tsunade opened her mouth when Kakashi thrust his head in the door. "KAKASHI! This is a private meeting! And would it KILL you to knock first?"

"He's moving."

Tsunade didn't need elaboration. She knew who Kakashi was talking about, and any amount of movement was enough to distract her completely from the fuming Uchiha. "Sasuke, I'll deal with you later," she promised as she and Kakashi darted out the door. Sasuke frowned. "Hell no," he growled, swinging around and dashing after them. Neji heard them on the way there and followed the company with Sasuke's help.

All four arrived back at the hospital, attracting Sakura and Hinata's attention. All six arrived in the room in time to hear Kakashi's bunshin go 'poof'. Startled, Kakashi went in first.

"Oh, darnit!" piped a blonde, "Come on, they found us!"

A smaller, more feminine, 6-year-old version of Neji with purple eyes was leaning over Itachi's face, hands glowing and a smile on her lips. A 6-year-old Naruto was sitting next to her, perched on a 6-year-old Gaara's shoulders. (These are the clones they made) The Konoha company froze in the doorway. Bright blue eyes flashed purple and Kaiva backed away from Itachi, her glowing hands spread apart. Tsunade focused on the chakra gathered around her hands but before she could make a proper analysis, Kaiva clapped them together. The chakra formed a giant spiral and then shot out in beams at the people in the door way. Tsunade saw the paralyzing beams and managed to duck to the side, leaving Kakashi open. The jounin didn't even feel the beam pass through him, but as it made contact, he felt his entire body lock in its position. Next to him, Sasuke and Neji felt the same sensations and Sasuke's mouth dropped open slightly before freezing in that position. Sakura and Hinata's screams were cut off and they became living statues. '_Paralysis_,' noted Tsunade before she felt her own body lock. Her eyes caught sight of Gaara, who had moved from Itachi's bed to the area next to her, his hands glowing the same color. She cursed mentally as the red head wandered closer, eyeing the frozen people. Kaiva looked at Naruto, who watched Gaara's back with a smile. The red head wandered up to a certain frozen teenager with closed eyes and paused. Sasuke's eyes widened. Neji heard Gaara jump onto the table next to him, and drew in a sharp breath as soft fingers ran down the side of his face. "They can't move," confirmed Naruto to Gaara's unspoken question, and the red head nodded. Gaara put his hand on Neji's shut eyes, and then his fingers flexed and moved in swift, calculated motions, chakra flowing through them. Neji drew a sharp breath. Gaara's eyes widened.

"_Stop struggling," whispered Gaara, "I'll crush you." _

His hands jerked away as if he'd burned himself. _'This ... this is him,'_ he thought, turning from the table and staggering over to where Naruto and Kaiva supported him with worried faces,_ 'this is that boy. I had so much power over him. I have so much power ...' _His eyes widened. _'... power ...'_

Naruto's eyes widened. "Gaa-chan!"

Kaiva opened the window and followed Naruto out, Gaara holding onto Naruto's shirt. Wide jade eyes threw a wild gaze upon Neji as they descended down the side of the building, and moments later, shut as he felt the silky coat of fur appear under him. Naruto and Kaiva gripped either of his arms and some fur as Aki bounded away from the hospital, crushing an empty apartment as he hurdled over the village walls.

The paralysis was released, and Neji fell to the floor. Kakashi jerked and then moved to Itachi's bed. Sakura collapsed next to Neji and Hinata followed Kakashi to Itachi's bedside. Tsunade gave Neji a brief physical scan and then left for Itachi's bedside. Sasuke grabbed Neji's shoulders. "Neji!" The Hyuuga's eyes fluttered open, the black draining into white and this time, the black circle of flame didn't appear, and his eyes stayed silvery-white. Sasuke felt Neji stiffen in his arms.

"Sa ... Sasuke?" Sasuke nodded. "Yeah ... it's me-"

Neji's hands came up to touch Sasuke's pale face, and his eyes widened. "Sasuke ... I can see. I can see you!"

Tsunade whipped around. "But how!"

"I don't know," Neji said, touching Sasuke's cheeks, his mouth, his eyes, his hair, everything, "All I know is this is Sasuke ... this is Sasuke ..." He paused. "Sasuke's pretty," he mused, causing the face in his hands to flush and Sakura to giggle as Hinata flushed as well. The two girls turned away moments later when Neji leaned forwards to taste the newly visible lips.

Neji's arms wrapped around Sasuke's hips and chest, and the black-haired Uchiha leaned into the kiss, a gentle tongue probing forwards for the first time. Sasuke met it and an electric shock coursed through his body. Neji shuddered against him and they heard the click of a camera. And frankly, they didn't care. Neji wanted to see and feel. He wanted to be able to see and feel and taste and hear. Before, he couldn't see and now he could. Now, he could _see_ the thin lines under Sasuke's pitch-black eyes, could see the silky raven-colored locks that fell into his face, could see the warm, gentle lips that crushed against his (_well, couldn't see very well when they were crushing against his_). Sasuke moaned a little and then doubled his force, pushing them backwards to the wall. A passing nurse jumped and shut the door with a little slam. Neji ran a hand along Sasuke's hips, fingers and eyes caressing the skin that was visible. Sasuke shuddered. Neji suddenly paused as Sasuke's hand wandered up his back and rested softly, almost casually along his neck. They broke the kiss off, Neji slightly out of breath and Sasuke flushed and panting. Another click. Sasuke could _feel_ Kakashi grinning behind them. He didn't care. He looked into Neji's eyes and realized they were almost exactly the same height. His lips drew into a half smirk.

"Hey."

Neji felt his lips quirk. "Hey ..."

He kissed Sasuke one more time, shutting his eyes and letting his other senses shudder as his sight was repressed for only a moment, pulse pounding in his chest and lips closing softly around Sasuke's. He pulled away slowly, letting the other boy's taste linger on and in his mouth. He blinked his eyes open and felt his heart skip a beat as light flooded his being again. Sasuke felt his lips draw back into a smile and brought a hand to Neji's cheek to smear away the tear that had dribbled down.

Tsunade was facing Itachi's bed, Kakashi on one side, Hinata and Sakura on the other. The dark-haired shinobi gave a groan and his brother froze. Neji blinked his eyes and Sasuke's hand fell away from his cheek. The two dark-haired boys faced the bed as Tsunade and everyone else backed away from the hospital bed. There were many possible outcomes of Itachi's vegetative state, and Tsunade frowned, preparing herself mentally for the worst. Itachi groaned and shifted, bringing his hands to his face. The blonde Hokage decided it would be best to treat the dangerous man as any other patient and addressed him as such.

"Itachi-san?" said Tsunade softly, "Itachi-san, can you hear me?"

Itachi's eyes fluttered open and he sat up groggily, blinking and looking around the room. A pair of black, confused eyes stared around the room and landed on Sasuke. The younger Uchiha's face was screwed up into a mixture of hatred and something else that Tsunade, for all her years of reading other people's emotions, could not decipher. Itachi's eyes didn't for a moment shift in recognition or fear or boredom. They held their clear, unwavering gaze which wandered over Hinata and Sakura and Neji and Sasuke again and Tsunade and landed on Kakashi.

This time, when the eyes stopped, everyone could see the recognition that rose like a tide, swelling and filling the confused voids with a readable emotion.

"Ah-hmmm ... _ah_ ..." came Itachi's silky voice, a little off from lack of use, but still smooth and mysterious. Neji felt his pulse double and a blush rose to his face at the tone of voice his boyfriends' brother used. Sakura felt her entire face go red and Hinata's mouth fell open slightly. Kakashi's eyes widened as Itachi pointed at him with a blank expression.

" ... who the hell are you?"

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

_He... he liked this feeling._

"_You."_

_Wide, white eyes, blank as paper, but full of emotion. Fear. Anger. Hatred. _

_He grit his teeth and spat out, "Get **off** of me!"_

_Such powerful emotion. Like a tidal wave._

"_... why should I?"_

_I ..._

_You what? _

_I don't--_

_Now you don't? You do? You what? Did you want that emotion for yourself? To own that fear? To be the source of that anger? _

_A jeering, merciless voice ... he wanted to cover up his ears, to block out that hateful voice, but it continued ..._

_You wanted him at your mercy ... you wanted to feel control ... wanted to know you had the power to make that pretty little boy do whatever it was you wanted ... you knew you had it, and you knew you were the source of his anger ... you had that emotion for yourself, you knew that it was yours, you wanted to know he was submissive, to know you controlled him ..._

_... stop ... stop ... Stop ... STOP ..._

_... and when you realized you had that kind of power, you relished it ... and laughed ..._

_Jade eyes widen--_

_I ..._

Gaara turned in his sleep. A cool hand fell on his forehead and the voices were silenced. A pair of confused green eyes stared into their dream-space as the sounds stopped.

The cooling hand moved once, and the eyes shut, and Gaara turned over into a dreamless, voiceless slumber.

Kaiva took her hand away from Gaara's head. "He's ok. He needs sleep." Naruto sighed in something like relief. Kaiva offered him a cup of tea, and he smiled, taking it and swirling its contents briefly before taking in some of the warm beverage. Gaara's clone had exploded half way back to its creator, and what had happened to it seeped into the real Gaara. When they'd made the clones, they'd put half of themselves in the clones so that they could recount everything that happened. Naruto had wanted to make sure himself that Itachi was well, and so they'd sent half of themselves to Konoha, and the other half had toyed with the idea of an approach._ /It took the entire time that the clones were checking on Itachi to decide/_ mused Naruto as he took another drought,_ /but we finally decided on a frontal approach. It shouldn't be too flashy, but it'll draw their attention./_ He felt his hand cross his side and rest on his stomach. He winced.

_/Mom .../_

Kaiva looked at Gaara with half-lidded eyes. The clones had been designed so that when they disappeared, their other halves would slowly seep back into their bodies. Gaara's clone experienced emotions too close to real ones that it had backfired, and his other half was shot back into him, a transition that was almost instant instead of the hour it had taken Kaiva and Naruto to regenerate. She wondered what kind of adverse side effects it might have on him. The purple eyes welled with curiosity and then flooded with sadness as Gaara thrashed in his sleep, jerking and shaking his head feverishly. She reached out and touched his warm forehead again, and the shaking stopped, and the red head fell back against the pillows, breathing deeply and slowly. The pale lips moved and a word slipped out from between them as he turned over again.

"... stop ..."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Kakashi felt his entire body freeze in some icy paralysis as Itachi pointed at him.

"Who the hell are you?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. Tsunade frowned. "Uchiha Itachi, I-" Itachi turned to look at her and cocked his head to one side.

"And who are you? Where's mom and dad? Where's my little brother?" Tsunade's eyes widened. Itachi frowned. "Hey," he said, moving as if to get up, "you better tell me where my little brother is. You better not have touched my little brother. Where's Sasuke?"

Sasuke felt his chest contract as if five thousand tons had dropped on his ribcage and was constricting his air. What was Itachi's game this time? Tsunade frowned.

"Tell me about yourself, Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi looked up at her and glared. "I'm not dumb. Tell me who you are first, and tell me where mom and dad are. And tell me where Sasuke is!" Tsunade's eyes were still suspicious as she gestured to the room's occupants. "Don't you know at least one of these people?" Itachi's eyes flickered up and scouted around the room. He stopped and rose a finger, pointing at Neji.

"It's that guy ... Hyuuga. White eyes. Hyuuga-san." He frowned. "You ... were really small last time I saw you."

Neji turned to Sasuke. "What's up with your brother?"

Sasuke couldn't answer. Sasuke didn't hear the question. Sasuke, along with Kakashi, was in an entirely different world at the moment. The person that he'd dedicated most of his life to catching up to, the person he'd trained himself to hate ... had forgotten him. Completely. Hadn't even spared him a second glance in curiosity to their physical resemblance. Wasn't that funny? Sasuke would have laughed ...

Kakashi glared at the form on the bed. "Who are you?" he growled.

Itachi looked up, a scowl on his face. "What are you talking about? Who are _you_?"

Kakashi's hands curled into fists, and before Tsunade could stop him, he'd grabbed Itachi's collar and pushed the man against the wall with a thud. Hinata dashed forwards first to try and pull him off of the shocked Uchiha. Kakashi paid her no mind as he demanded of the black-haired man, "Who are you really? What have you done with Itachi?"

"Are you crazy!" coughed the black-haired boy as he shoved Kakashi's hands off his neck, "I AM Itachi! Uchiha Itachi, age 10, older brother of ..."

"Wait."

Kakashi's breath returned to him. He looked up at Itachi again. "Wait. I'm sorry. Say that again."

"Uchiha Itachi," repeated the man shakily, his brow furrowed as he scooted away from the silver-haired man, "age 10 ... older brother of Sasuke."

Kakashi let Hinata pull him away from the bed and sit him on a chair. The older man seemed lifeless but his shaky deep breathing could be heard through the entire room. Tsunade felt a pang of sympathy.

Something clicked in Neji's head. "A side-effect of the coma?" he asked softly.

Tsunade nodded, glancing at Itachi warily. "He must have regressed mentally ..." Sasuke felt his hands twitch, and then relaxed as cool fingers slid down the back of his palm and locked hands with him. He shut his eyes and allowed Neji to drag him to a chair besides Kakashi.

"Is it permanent?"

"Not likely," replied Tsunade as she glanced at Neji, "not very. There is a chance ..."

Neji saw Kakashi twitch. Next to the jounin, Sasuke was staring at his brother in disbelief. Neji felt his heart clench and he squeezed Sasuke's hand. The other boy squeezed back. Good. He was still alive.

"... but it's highly remote. Uchiha Itachi should be back to normal within a month or so."

Kakashi stood. Tsunade watched him turn and open the door. "Kakashi, I'm pausing all of your missions for the next month." The silver haired jounin paused for a second and then without a word continued out of the room, walking down the hallway as if in a funeral march. Sakura followed her sensei, casting Neji a smile as she left. Hinata smiled at her cousin as well and accompanied Tsunade back towards the Hokage tower. That left Sasuke and Neji with Itachi. The black-eyed man scratched his head and looked around.

"Huh ... I suppose I'm still in Konoha ... at least that's ok." He looked up at Neji. "Hey, Hyuuga-san. Can you tell me where my mother and father would be at the moment?" The silence in the room stretched and Itachi crossed his arms.

"Gosh," he muttered finally, "just because you're both older than me doesn't mean you should keep quiet like that. It's rude."

Sasuke stood up. Neji watched him warily, prepared to try and stop the other boy if he attacked Itachi, who was still in the hospital. '_As long as we're in the hospital, Sasuke could get into a lot of trouble if he attacks Itachi.' _The white-eyed teen crossed his arms and watched as Sasuke walked over to the edge of the hospital bed and looked his brother in the eye.

Itachi squirmed. "What?" he asked finally, "What do you want?"

The shorter Uchiha stared down at his brother and Neji tensed. "Who are you?" he repeated, then, as an afterthought, "And who was that guy? With the silvery hair? Who tried to choke me?" His eyes widened as Sasuke blinked. "Did I ... do something wrong ...?"

"N ... No," answered Sasuke truthfully. Itachi frowned up at him. "Then why was he trying to hurt me?" Sasuke looked into his brothers eyes, searching desperately for something to hate, some fragment of his older brother that even faintly resembled the man he'd come to hate.

"Hey, are you ok?" There was nothing ... nothing in him now ... the Itachi that had existed before was gone.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"So ... it's all here," Tenmari said, pushing her bangs out of her face. Kankuro let out a sigh. "Finally. All that paperwork was hell." Tenmari grinned. "Now I know why Tsunade-sama is always asleep on her desk. With that kind of work all the time, it makes sense that she gets little sleep."

"It's getting late. Why don't you come see Diana and her kids?" suggested Kankuro, "Rui and Hari are great with strangers." Tenmari nodded. "All right." She poked his side. "You'll have to formally introduce me to this 'Diana' person, you know," she taunted, watching Kankuro turn red, the paint on his face blending in with his blush. She laughed as they walked away from the Kazekage's quarters.

Inside, the Kazekage was pushing bangs away from a tired face. "I can hardly blame Tsunade for falling asleep," mused a slightly scratchy voice that cleared its throat, "all this paper work has _me_ exhausted, too." The head turned towards the window. "And that was just for a peace treaty ... who _knows_ how long it would take to go through an alliance conference ..." Just thinking about it made the kage's head hurt. But business was business, and there were papers to stamp and sign and read over and someone was standing in front of them.

Jumping back, green eyes widened before regaining their calm composure. "W-who are you?" demanded the voice behind the veiled kage hat. The blue-eyed boy made no response. There was a smile on his lips as he moved forwards, pulling two kunai from in his clothes. The kazekage slammed a red button several times without any results.

"We've taken care of your fail safe," whispered a voice from behind the kazekage and there was a crash as the kage was thrown onto the desk, hands gripped together by the second person. The blonde advanced slowly, and the kage's eyes widened as he sliced downwards, the shirt tearing.

"How interesting," mused the blonde as green eyes met blue, "a female kage."

The green-eyed girl narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?" Gaara released her as Naruto dropped the kunai on her desk. "Come and find us if you want revenge," he said softly, blue-purple eyes flashing red as he disappeared silently.

Sora rubbed her wrists._ 'What a bizarre threat. Why would I want to take revenge for a ...' _Her eyes widened as she looked down.

The kunai on her desk were stained red.

The doors crashed open. Tenmari stood panting in the doorway, chest heaving and her left hand covered in blood. Her usually calm eyes were wide and wild. "K-Kazekage-sama ..."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"So who'd you kill?"

Naruto put his hands behind his head as Aki carried them towards the Stone village.

"Some people from her family."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Sora stared. Kankuro was shaking in the corner, holding her sister's body in his arms. Broken in several places. Blood dribbling out of her mouth, from the cuts in her arms, on her legs, from the claw marks that raked down her back. Dribbling into a puddle onto the floor. Adding to the puddle on the floor. The puddle that mixed with the blood of the others.

Two bodies, identical in size, opposite in gender, both stained red.

Broken, like little porcelain dolls, on the floor meters away from Kankuro and their mother.

"Diana ..."

Kankuro mumbled to himself, "It's a bad dream. They're not gone. How could they be gone? Nothing's gone. It's a bad dream. They're not gone. How ..."

Rui, the red-haired, green-eyed kid that was shy around everyone but him and his sister and mother.

A snapped pile of bones and blood.

His mother, Diana, was something like Tenmari to him. She was twenty-one, even though she didn't look it.

Rocking in Kankuro's trembling arms.

Hari, the blue-haired, brown-eyed kid that was polite and gentle and loved dandelions, even if they were weeds.

A smear on the wall, the top part of a pretty little doll that bled and cried red tears.

The sister and niece and nephew of the Kazekage lay scattered and broken and bloody in the waiting room. Sora dropped to her knees and screamed.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Tsunade and Hinata paused outside the door. The purple-haired kunoichi felt her eyes widen and a shudder ran through her. Neither she nor Tsunade had the power to turn the doorknob in front of them. There was one tiny problem with said door.

The handle was dripping red.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Gaara leaned against him silently. Kaiva nodded. "When shall I play?" Naruto's eyes shut and a smile spread across his face. "Soon."

"Ah, I see ..." a smile slipped across her face, "... now I know why you went to Konoha first."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

The door hadn't been closed. The door hadn't been locked. So when the wind gusted up behind them, it opened with one long creak, revealing the darkened room. The stench of blood filled the doorway, screaming as it fled the dark musty room. There was a light switch to their left. Hinata felt her hand tremble as her fingers moved in jerky motions, slowly coming in contact with the switch. The light flickered to life, except that it didn't get much brighter. The room's first two walls shifted from black to gray, and the floor at their changed from gray to blue.

The rest of the room slipped into a hazy maroon, and Hinata screamed.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Kakashi paused and looked up. Iruka smiled up at him. "What's wrong?" The silver-haired jounin blinked and got up off the desk. "I'm going to go see what that scream was about," he said as he left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Iruka nodded and returned to grading school work, passing over Moegi's paper as well as Udon's. He smiled softly and gave both of them an A+. The last fifteen of their answers were very wrong.

_'But I'd want my last grade to be good, too,'_ thought Iruka absently as he continued to sift through the piles of paper.

Kakashi scouted the source of the scream, asking villagers along the way. They pointed him to a warm, homely corner of the village. He saw Tsunade's back from a door way and went over to investigate. 'Maybe she'll know where the scream came fro ...' Something clicked. He doubled his pace. When he made it to the doorway, he froze and turned his head away.

Hinata lay in the door way on her knees, hands covering her mouth, trembling. Tsunade was frozen up and shaking, trembling, shuddering, short breaths and doubled heartbeats that felt like a thousand pounding drums wracking her body.

None of the three found the strength to move for a very long time. Kakashi finally took Hinata's arm and gently led her up and out of the room. He shut the door behind him.

Kakashi looked around. There happened to be several ANBU members around. He called all of them over. The four masked men were briefed on the situation by him and two of them went back inside the house to clean up while the other two escorted the Hokage back to her office. Kakashi watched Tsunade go off with a tired look before his eyes widened and he disappeared. '_Itachi_!'

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"I want him to understand."

"He's your brother ... it's your choice." Neji frowned. "It might not make sense, but you can try."

Sasuke nodded and took a seat next to his brother's bed. Itachi looked over at him sleepily. He was rubbing his eyes and scooting back under the covers as the younger Uchiha took up a chair by his side. The short-haired boy began to speak.

"Itachi- ... Uchiha Itachi. I have to tell you something. I know where Sasuke is."

Itachi's face lit up as if someone had told him that he was to receive a present. "Oh! Really? Where ..."

Sasuke looked seriously into his eyes. "Here."

The black-eyed man's face fell. "You're lying. He's not here, I don't see a kid any ..."

"**Here**," Sasuke elaborated, holding a hand to his chest. Itachi scrunched his eyes up and then blinked sleepily.

"Sa ... Sasu ..." He fell back against the pillows struggling to keep awake and failing. However, the door flying open sort of shocked him into sitting up.

Kakashi stared wildly into the room before the frenzied look left his face and he sighed in relief. Sasuke frowned and left Itachi's bed side, the dark-haired man falling against the pillows, asleep. Neji cast Itachi a long glance before following his boyfriend out the door. He paused and felt his heart flutter. _'My ... boyfriend ...'_ Blood made a mad scramble to rush across his face and he ducked his head, hoping that Kakashi and Sasuke didn't notice. When he finally picked his head up, Kakashi was briefing Sasuke on the situation and before long he and the short-haired Uchiha were picking up Hinata from the house. Kakashi had agreed that it would be best for him to find Jiriya, who was still somewhere nearby. He would be best suited to get Tsunade back to her normal self, whatever that was. Neji and Sasuke parted; Neji would take Hinata back to the main house, and Sasuke would find Sakura and tell her about Udon and Moegi. The black-haired Uchiha found the cherry blossom sitting under her namesake's tree in a park, and his heart clenched to see her eyes widen and tears dribble down her face faster than she could have realized they were there. He took her home, and ran into a few others along the way, briefing them on what had passed as well. Tenten was devastated, she'd known Moegi and Udon, not closely, but was horrified to hear of any child's death in such a manner. Ino dashed home, bumping into Shikamaru and Chouji on the way, and telling them what had happened. The boy's evening was darkened, and they skipped the walk in the park they had been planning in favor of finding Kiba and telling him that it might be a good idea to check up on Hinata. The hound boy and his dog were sitting on top of a newly-severed stump, looking very proud, when Shikamaru and Chouji finally found him. He was off the second they finished, Akamaru on his heels almost literally. Their speed surprised Shino, who followed to investigate. When he learned of the situation, he moved to the Hokage tower, asking for enterence to the Hokage's office. The secretary nodded and allowed him to enter. The silent boy spread out a few of his bugs and they directed him to a piece of paper sitting on Tsunade's desk, slightly hidden by the piles of paper. Tsunade herself was in a chair, shaking and rocking back and forth. There was an ANBU on either side of her, speaking softly, trying to coax words out of her. Finally, she stopped and looked up shakily.

"How many more children will die?"

"Possibly all of them," said Shino softly, taking the note from her desk and showing it to her. Tsunade's eyes widened and then she stood, anger fueling good posture and strengthened her voice.

"Get me Shizune. We're going to the Sand." Puzzled, Shino asked softly, "Why? You already have a delegate out there to sign a peace treaty ..."

"I don't want a peace treaty," snarled Tsunade, "I want an alliance. This time the price will double." She slammed her fist down on the 'wanted' poster, breaking her desk in half, the papers collapsing and scattering through the room. The two ANBU moved away from her as she moved towards the door. Shino glanced down at the remains of the desk and held up the paper she'd punched.

"... _'**Wanted**: Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku Gaara ... for killing the third Hokage and his grandson ...'_ ..."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Another grueling chapter ... (sighs) Sorry that they're so long. T-T

(switches from depressed to happy)

Kyaaaa! Thanks thanks thanks to aalllll my reviewers who made this chapter possible! My knees are bruised, I'm hacking up a lung, I can only hear out of one ear, but you guys got an update anyway! -

**Responce to reviews:**

(faints)

(unfaints)

**Princess Kitana: **Yay! Another GaaNaru follower! The coupling is my favorite, and I'm a little depressed that I haven't been able to move their relationship along faster, but it really needed to develop strong roots for what's gonna happen mentally ... i think ...

**Jasmine Starlight**: I tried my hardest, but Sasuke and Neji are just in too deep with Itachi and emotional things. They got a little kissing done, but there's so much more ... (evil cackle) oh, yes, more to come ... there will be action in the next chapter. (I keep saying this and it never comes. Now, it's actually written into my outline. Author's word.)

**TheTrueSilver**: Again, I try my hardest, but with plot developing and moving us towards something ... there's very few spaces for smutty action. I have to find a place to slow it down and work the mood into the story because it's no fun to have them talking and then suddenly humping each other ... (ew. cringing.)

**radicaledward723**: gomen! lots and lots of words ...

**FoxCox is mest up** : sorry, i updated slow:P

**Dirty Vicar**: yes, Kaiva is annoying. She will be leaving us soon, aw, how sad. (not. :) anyway, thankx for reviewing!

**Burning tree**: I'm so glad that this is exactly what you wanted to read! YAAAYYYY! (victory dance) Thanks thanks thanks!

**kari073**: sigh. sometimes I'm afraid my chapters are too long. Don't relationships usually take time to develop? Think about it- (Sasuke growls and crosses arms "I'm not gonna hand my heart over to someone that quickly." Neji-"of course. that's why it took so long." hugs sasuke and blush) I was sure merging was a commonly written thing ... your questions shall be answered ... and Iruka's an awesome psyco chuunin! (squeezes life out of Iruka-chibi-plush)

**inuyasha-sakura**: I don't know ... it won't be very painful. But it will mess up Naruto's head. He'll be losing another friend. How will this affect him? Will Gaara have something to do with helping him through it? Am I giving away too much? (Sasuke: yes. shut up.)

**Silver Spell**: Kyaaaaa! Gomen! (ducks and hides)

**Altariel** **Eldalote**: I would pay you you do your 'job' so well. I tried hard on the Tenmari-Kankuro meeting. Sorry about Rui and Hari and Diana ... I had plans for them in a sequel, but this sort of screwed it over ... (laughs nervously) I'd love to talk more! My real e-mail is blankpage2004 at yahoo. - write me!

**TFI-Muse**: I'm gonna sing the doom song now. Doom-de-doom doom doom, doom doom dooooom ... ----- They'll be like kids mentally for a while. I don't know if they're ever gonna grow up. Well ... there will be some 'growing up' for certain ... closeness ... intenseness ... uh ... (blushes) later!

**ranma** **hibiki**: Gaara's having this internal battle about Neji. More shall be explained on this ... kukuku ...

**Ruby Heart**: Gasp! You're right! (turns red as tomato) I ... I'll change it! As soon as I finish this!

**DeAtHaNgEL-LaVeNdA**: Yosh! A review! I love it! Review again! -

Wow, that was a lotta people! Sorry for taking up a lot of room, but had to say hi to everyone! I love you all. See you next time!

**--blue 1/2**

**(aka xxfissshbonesssxx)**


	17. That Which Is Not Said

**Chapter 17: That which is not said ...**

**Warnings**: shonen ai, violence, lots of plot, medically unwell author,

**Author notes:**

This chapter is dedicated to the two weeks I spent in bed, hacking my lungs up.

Hope it's long enough.

It's kinda full of a bunch of choppy sections that aren't that long.

Response to reviews at bottom of page

Please read the **PAIRINGS** **information** at the bottom after this chapter. Thanks.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Kankuro pulled the sheets over his sister's body, looking down on her sleeping features with feelings of chaos. His younger brother ... his father ... now, Diana and her two children. His precious people were all being taken away ... what about his sister? Would she also leave him?

_'Will you abandon me, too, Tenmari?'_

"Don't go," he whispered, running a hand over Tenmari's forehead, "Don't leave me alone."

_'I don't want to be alone.'_

_A pair of pale, jade eyes blinked up at him. "... 'Kuro-aniki ... I don't wanna be alone." Kankuro grinned and stuck out his tongue. "Too bad! Your room's over there! And it's **all** **aloooone**-"_

_"**Kankuro**!" A taller blonde slapped the back of his head, startling Gaara. Kankuro turned around and held his head. "Itai! Ten-nee! That hurt!"_

_Tenmari frowned. "It's just what you deserve." She smiled down at the shivering red head. "Don't worry," she said, "We'll be right down the hall." Gaara nodded slowly, his large jade eyes cast to the ground, and wandered off to his own room. As soon as he shut the door, Tenmari frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Kankuro ..." The pouting boy crossed his own arms in a huff and his lower lip jutted out. His sister wasn't moved. "Kankuro no baka! If you get him mad, he'll eat us!"_

_Kankuro swallowed. "Y-yeah ..." he frowned and attempted to run off to his room but tripped twice on the way. Tenmari sighed and turned to go to her own room next to Gaara's at the end of the hall._

_She had shut the door when a small fist rapped on the other side. She blinked and turned around as the door opened a crack, revealing half of a blushing face, a blanket clutched up to his mouth and nose. _

_"'T-ten-nee? I ..." Tenmari smiled softly._

_"Yes, 'kuro-baka. You can stay here." _

_Kankuro dashed into the room and tackled his sister's midsection, hiding his face and wrapping his arms around her hips, which was about as high as he could reach. He sniffed and Tenmari was shocked to feel water droplets through her shirt. Kankuro shook. "I-I ... I don't wanna be alone! Don't leave me alone ..." Tenmari wrapped her arms around her younger brother's shoulders. "It's ok ..." She sat and waited for the tears to stop, smiling and patting her brother's back. It was hard to be the big sister sometimes, but she supposed it was just as hard to be a little brother. After a while, she decided that she should make a point. "See? This is probably how Gaara feels after you tell him that he has to sleep in that big room all by hisself." Kankuro looked up, sniveling and rubbing at his eyes. The blondes stood up slowly and Tenmari led her smaller brother to the last sand sibling's room. They knocked on the door together. When Gaara answered, his eyes grew wide and he rushed to rub at his eyes like Kankuro had, drying the remains of his tears from his cheeks. Tenmari smiled as Kankuro offered the smaller boy his blanket to dry his eyes off. Gaara blinked wide-eyed at the offered fluff, but finally took the blanket as he began to sob, more tears dribbling down onto the soft cotton._

Tenmari's head rolled over onto Kankuro's hand, breaking off the memory. One of his only memories of the three of them. Together. He pulled his hand out from under Tenmari's cheek and went to leave. The door clicked shut behind him and he looked into the hallway. The cool night air whispered silent secrets across his skin as he made his way to the end of the hall where the Kazekage's office was, door ajar. He went inside and then passed through the office to the balcony, resting his elbows on the rail and looking out over the sleeping village.

"It's funny." Sora's eyes reflected the moon. "How fragile we are."

"Yeah." Kankuro sighed. "Like glass ..."

He held up his hand to his face, rotating it, feeling the bone slide and the muscle relax and contact and function together by design. "Just like dolls. Marionettes. Puppets. Tools." His face screwed up and his hand formed a fist. "Like _toothpicks _that you snap with your fingers." He smacked the railing with a fist, leaving a small dent. "Why! Why did they have to take them! They ... they were kids." He trailed off into a whisper and Sora's hand closed over his. The older girl looked into his eyes, and he realized he was crying. He moved to wipe his tears away, and found another hand moving towards his face. Sora stopped, but as Kankuro pulled back his hand, she moved her own forwards to take the tears off his face.

"... it'll be ok," she said softly. "It will be."

Kankuro nodded. Then, he laughed. Sora blinked and pulled her hand away, blushing. "Wha ... what's so funny?"

"Nothing," said Kankuro through a chuckle, "it's just... you remind me a lot of Diana." Sora nodded. "I know. We're ... we were a lot alike, weren't we?"

"Yeah ..."

The two stared off into the darkness that blanketed the village, silence settling over the night.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

_"How many more children will die?"_

_"Possibly all of them." _

It was a check list.

'_First stop, Konoha. Then Suna, and Stone, and Rain, and Mist ...'_

The note on her desk was a check list.

'_Konoha-two or three kids close/important to the Hokage ...'_

Tsunade's fists clenched in anger.

'_Suna-the Kazekage's sister and her kids ...'_

There weren't even names listed. Just 'those people' and 'those kids'.

'_Stone-a few villagers here and there, someone close to the kage ...'_

"Tsunade-sama?"

The blonde's head snapped up as she was yanked out of her thoughts by a gentle, concerned voice. Shizune was gazing at her from across the small room of the train, her features reflecting concern and slight worry. On her left, Kakashi flipped a page in his book. His eye swiveled up to meet hers and then gave a non-commutative blink before returning back to its book. Jiraiya was watching the village, Kakashi and Shizune were accompanying her to the Sand ... sort of like a vacation. Tsunade felt a weak smile creep onto her face as she buried her rage inside her chest. There were more important things to focus on than how she was going to kill the person who wrote the list.

"We... we're nearing the borders, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade nodded and got to her feet. "Very well, then."

The train was new. It ran through the neutral lands just a little south of Konoha, and was sort of like the bridge that Tazuna had built so long ago. The silver-haired jounin sighed. _'Memories ...'_ They got to their feet and walked over to the small door. The train had begun to slow, and now it was coming to a halt. As the doors parted, Shizune moved in front of Tsunade and stepped out first. As the blonde Hokage followed her assistant out, her eyes met three people she hadn't expected to see for another day.

"Tenmari-san ... Kankuro-kun ... Kazekage-dono. What a pleasant surprise to have you all here!" Sora smiled. "It's been a while, Tsunade." Tsunade grinned in return. "Yes. Let's go back to your place, shall we?" The two kages, surrounded by the two Sand siblings, Kakashi, and Shizune, walked toward the end of the platform before they shot off down the dirt road.

A girl that hadn't been there before stumbled onto the platform from the same compartment as the two kages and their company shot out of sight. She coughed, the clouds of dust and sand the train threw up were so horrible ...

"... but I got ... what I came for," she announced to herself between coughs.

Righting herself, she patted her clothes off and got back on the train. It would go back now, along the borders between Konoha and Grass through a neutral area. Then they would reach the place where there was a secluded country; hidden by mountains unexplored, untamed, hiding the silent country where Naruto and Gaara were waiting for her. '_They'll have the first boundary done by now.' _The train gave a heave and began to chug along faster, steam streaming off the top of the train. She gave in to another slight coughing fit, putting her hand over her mouth. Kaiva smeared the blood from her hand onto the window pane in front of which she dangled the necklace, looking at the three green-blue stones that sparkled in the thin light. A soft-eyed gaze of lavender reflected back at her as a thin smile crossed her face.

"I'm almost out of time ..."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

There wasn't any noise where they were. "It's quiet."

"I know."

There wasn't too much sun. "It's cool."

" ... I know."

There was only silence and two figures, their misshapen silhouettes thrown against a pure white landscape, the only darkness besides the shadows of the trees. Gaara leaned back against the cool bark, eyes wandering around the snowy scene. A few feet from them lay the entrance to Infinity Fortress. A hundred yards before the serene place he sat, snow and hail roared, wild and free. At the edge of this constant storm a new desert began and sept to the feet of mountains. The range of mountains that bordered the Snow country. _(A/N: here's a description of snow country! -)_ There was a wide, rugged mountain range that gave way to miles of desert that he had helped increase, and then snow that felt at first like an angel's touch but as you turned your back revealed its icy intent and swept any intruder into a maelstrom of hail and ice, thundering across the white planes for an entire mile. Then, all of a sudden, the storm cleared and became the serene silence that surrounded them now.

Gaara looked up to the sky. The silence stretched across the snow-covered plains for miles.

It was like being in a painting.

Soft blue shadows fell behind the waves of white, the silent sea of frozen water. Etched into life's canvas, with more colors than even a well of paint would ever provide. Even the wind swept across the sky, a passing lavender-blue scarf across the endless blue sky.

Endless blue. Gaara looked up. The sky ... open and stretching for miles. It truly was endless. It was without limits. It was.

Gaara looked down. Naruto looked up. And the red head downed himself in another endless blue, feeling smooth fingers on his cheeks, dragging him downwards, closer, and cerulean orbs shut and fluttered open again as the fingers traced the red lines in the skin above his eye. A smile.

"It's cool."

"I know."

Lips parted and Gaara leaned down. Their shadows merged and faded into soft blue.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"Am I the only one?"

"Well ..."

Neji held back a snort. "Sasuke, we're not in the academy anymore. I'm eighteen. You'll be eighteen soon. You can say if there are other good-looking people out there." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, though a half-smirk graced his lips. He and Neij were sitting in a 'coffee shop', but neither of them were having coffee. Neji was wearing a white sweater with a wide-rimmed collar and gray pants that allowed him lots of free movement. His bandaged hand sat next to a glass of peach juice. Sasuke was wearing a navy-blue, sleeveless, wide-rim collar shirt with a fan on his back and had bandages around his forearms, a small holster on his upper left arm. His left hand held a small cup of tea. White-gray shorts that just covered up his knees were covered on one side by a normal shuriken and kunai holster.

"Come on ... I can't be the only person you oogle." Sasuke coughed through his tea and colored. Neji calmly took a sip off the top of his drink and his eyes slid over to the other boy lazily.

"You do realize that now I can **see** you staring at me?" The refined vocabulary of the seventeen-year-old Uchiha heir crumbled into a few select words and mutterings, to Neji's amusement. "I-I ... I don't stare."

"Yes, you do," pointed out Neji smoothly, shutting his eyes and taking another draught from his tall glass. When his eyes opened again, he put his glass on the table and relaxed back in his seat, his formerly crossed legs spreading slightly. Sasuke froze as Neji locked eyes with him. Then, the silver gaze moved downward from his face, and Sasuke could practically _feel_ the other boy's gaze as if his hands were running over his body instead of his eyes. Neji openly gazed at the muscles that lined Sasuke's exposed shoulders and arms, tracing one arm and then the other with his gaze. Then, he let his eyes enjoy the slender but muscular stomach, toned abs showing through his shirt slightly because of his position (leaning back slightly against the chair). He paused over Sasuke's waist and Sasuke fought to keep himself calm as Neji openly and pointedly kept his gaze between Sasuke's parted thighs. After a few more moments, Neji moved on, and Sasuke let out a mental breath. The gaze continued down his thighs and ended at his ankles. Then, the gaze flickered up to meet his face. His slightly pink face. Neji put his chin on a palm and a small smirk spread across his lips.

"Feel it?" Sasuke snorted, sitting up and pulling his legs together. "Shut up." He busied his mouth with his drink as Neji's smirk widened. "You must get a better vocabulary." Sasuke didn't find that his dignity allowed a response. Neji didn't laugh, but his eyes sparkled and he took another draught from his glass.

For a while, Sasuke was content to sit silently, watching the people move in and out of the shop with their lives, with their problems. He didn't say anything else for a very long time. Across from him, Neji was thinking. "Sasuke," his soft voice called across the table, catching the attention of the boy across from him, "I want to hear it." Sasuke put his half-empty cup down. "Hn?" Neji looked at him, making sure that Sasuke would see his face. "I want you to tell me you love me and mean it. I want to hear those words." Sasuke felt his heart pause. Two images flashed in his head. Silver-white eyes, chuckles and light caresses. And another ... blue eyes, explosive laughter and fake smiles ...

Neji frowned. "Sasuke?" The younger boy looked up as nonchalantly as he could. "You first." Neji blinked. "Tell me that you love me, and mean it." Neji looked at Sasuke across the table for a long moment, his eyes clear and sure. There was no hesitation to his voice as his lips parted to form three words.

"I love you."

Sasuke's eyes widened. _'How ...'_ Neji moved closer to his chair, eyes searching Sasuke's.

_'How ... how do you ... make it so simple? How can you look at me like that? Like you'd throw your life away to hear me to repeat those words back to you with that same feeling behind them? How ... how is it so easy for you? Why ...'_

"I love you, Sasuke." A hand closed over his._ 'How can you say those things? Why can't I say them? They're just words--'_

Neji's mouth covered his, lips parting to allow a familiar tongue into his mouth. It wasn't just a kiss. It was a promise forged in silence. Sasuke's eyes opened. _'They're not just words. It's a promise.' _A promise to feel like this forever. A promise to share this feeling forever.

_'... But then ...' _Sasuke gripped Neji's arm, something in his chest pounding violently,_ ' ... why can't I make that promise back? What's holding me back?'_

He pulled away from the warm lips and Neji's face fell. "Sasuke ..." Two fingers met his lips. Sasuke's gaze was cast on the ground. "I can't ... I can't tell you that. Not now. There's something wrong inside of me ... something I have to figure out first." Neji blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I ... I don't want to talk about it right now," Sasuke said._ 'Not with you. I can't. I can't tell you that you might not be the only one I want to make that promise to.'_

Then, yanking his hands out of Neji's grasp, he turned away. Neji frowned and stared at Sasuke's back as the black-haired Uchiha walked towards the hospital. _'All the things you never said can stay unsaid if you let them.'_ Neji sighed and leaned back against the wall, unaware of the gaze that studied him from another side of the shop.

Two chocolate-brown eyes narrowed, jealousy flashing across their surface for just a moment. A slender hand clenched, and she dashed from the shop.

_'It's ok. It's all right. Neji-kun's just confused. Sasuke-kun's distracted. This is the perfect time to tell Neji-kun how I feel.'_ Her heart fluttered and she slowed. _'It's all right. It's just for a while. They won't be this way forever.'_ She had chased him, hugged him when she had the chance, tried to steal a kiss. She had written his rejections off to simply not wanting too much contact, and so she had backed off a little. She had shut her eyes to the dark-haired Uchiha._ 'It's all right. It's just for a while.'_ She had been confused when they talked about their relationship. She had been shocked when she'd actually **seen** it; the gentle touches, soft caresses, lingering hands and eyes and kisses that no one seemed to notice but her. To her, it stood out like murder. To everyone else, it was as casual as saying 'hello'._ 'Neji-kun's confused. It's ok. It's ok.' _Neji would be hers. They belonged together.

"Don't we?" She whispered softly as she came to a halt.

Lee looked up. "Don't we what?" His brown-eyed kunoichi teammate just smiled brightly.

"Nothing, Lee. Nothing at all."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"I'm home!"

A blonde blur slammed into the violet-eyed stranger as she opened the door. They tumbled outside into the snow and Gaara poked his head out from behind a tree. "What's ... oh." Kaiva sat up in the snow and smiled. "Look, look what I found!"

Naruto and Gaara both blinked at the three-stone necklace without any instant reactions. "It's from that woman," said Naruto finally, "from Konoha. That big-boobed girl." Kaiva nodded. "Tsunade." Gaara's eyes narrowed. "She doesn't like Naruto." Naruto grinned at him. "That's ok. I don't like her, either."

The three looked up into the sky. Snow fell down softer than rain.

"A few more days ..."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Tsunade looked across the table at Sora. "Thank you for understanding ..." Sora waved a hand as she stood from her chair.

"Oh, no. It was easy. We both have the same goal, and if I say so, the jounin and ANBU will be at your service. I'm the Kazekage, after all." Tsunade smiled. "Thank you again, Kazekage-dono ... Sora-san. If you need anything, Konoha will always be ready to help." They bowed and Tsundade left the room.

Kakashi was waiting outside with Shizune, reading his book. The dark-haired woman was talking with Tenmari. Tsunade caught some of their discussion before they abruptly stopped at the sight of her. She smiled. "I heard." The two women bristled. "Don't worry; we were discussing the same thing. Kakashi, Shizune, we're done here. Tenmari, if you like, you can come back with us or stay here. Kankuro-kun is also welcome in Konoha." She smiled and the two Sand siblings bowed to her. Kakashi stopped and his eyes widened.

"Tsunade ..." Shizune followed his line of sight and froze. Tsunade cocked her head to the side. "Eh?"

"Tsunade-sama! Your grandfather's necklace! It's--" Tsunade's hand flew to her chest. Her eyes widened.

"--gone!"

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"Thanks, Shikamaru." The lazy chuunin smiled, putting his feet up on the table. "No problem. I get paid more than you do, anyway." Chouji grinned and stuffed another pork chop into his mouth. "Well, since you put it like that, I feel less guilty about letting you treat me." Shikamaru snorted and Chouji licked his lips, picking up a napkin.

"It's getting tiresome." Chouji looked up. "You mean everything that's going on?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru leaned over and plucked a toothpick from the other side of the table and stuck it between his teeth. "I've heard Kakashi's been excused from all his missions. Seems like Uchiha Itachi's come back around with some kind of mental problem."

Chouji nodded. "Mental regression they called it," he input helpfully between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, how troublesome. I've also heard the rumor concerning Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru looked up and paused, and after he was sure no one was trying to listen to him, he leaned his head on Chouji's arm and whispered.

"There's a rumor that she's gathering an **army**. It's supposed to be a massive amount of jounins and hi-ranking chuunins and as many ANBU as we can spare. She won't be in the force herself, but this is all rumors. She's been refusing all requests to be put on ANBU ranks. Sasuke and Neji alone have tried to get her approval five times, Hinata four, Sakura, Kiba, and myself have all asked, like, three times. She even refused after Sasuke got the approval of _four_ jounin instructors, and that's unheard of." Chouji gave a nod and Shikamaru kept talking softly. "The army ... it's supposed to be for the two missing-nins she's taken a personal interest in. Uzumaki and Sabaku. Naruto and Gaara. They came at the last chuunin exam a few years ago and messed things up, killing the Third and Orochimaru. Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama worked their butts off to get that thing under control with the Sand and the Sound. There was practically another war ..."

"Hey," asked Chouji suddenly, "want something to drink?" Shikamaru shook his head and smiled lopsidedly. "Sorry ... got off track. Anyway, Tsunade's supposed to be assembling this kind of attack force. That's one thing. The other is ... the Akatsuki." Chouji paused for half a moment and then covered up by calling a waiter over for more water. "The word is that Jiraiya was talking to one of his assistants and another guy barged in with an urgent message. There's not hard proof that the organization and all its members are gone, but Jiraiya's contacts have pulled out of the Stone and Mist countries." Chouji nodded and took another bite. "The last one's a bit sketchy ... since Tsunade-sama left with Kakashi and Shizune two days ago, we haven't heard much. But Jiraiya got a letter. Something's wrong." Chouji frowned. "What could it be?"

"I don't know," said Shikamaru, sitting up, "but whatever it is, it's way important to Tsunade."

Chouji pulled out a pack of pocky and put the end of it in his mouth. Shikamaru looked at him a moment and then leaned up, biting off the half that was protruding from his mouth. Chouji finished his half and smiled at the man next to him as the lazy chuunin leaned on his shoulder, shutting his eyes as he pulled out his wallet. He drew a few bills and put them on the table and then stood with Chouji and left the restaurant.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Sasuke put the receptionist's pen down and headed towards the staircase, nodding at Kiba and Shino as the two passed on their way out. He slid into the ascending staircase and counted the levels as he climbed the steps._ 'Two, three, four, five.' _He opened the door and turned, counting the room numbers. _'... there.'_ He opened the door with a click and stepped inside. Kakashi looked up at him. The jounin was perched on a chair next to Itachi's bed, reading his book next to the sleeping man. The black-haired gennin frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be on a mission with the Hokage?"

"We're done," he said, shutting his book and placing it on the sheets as Itachi woke up, "Tsunade's furious, and I wanted to see Itachi before I left."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Wait. Where--"

"Classified."

His teacher shot him a sideways glance. The older man held his gaze for more than a minute, something settling over the silence in the room. Sasuke had the feeling that he was being evaluated, and however foolish it seemed, he was slightly nervous inside. "Sasuke ... do you still hate your brother?"

"Of course I do," was the automatic answer, followed by an unsure, "he ... he killed our--my family. He's a murderer." Kakashi's gaze softened. '_Saddened? What's he sad about?_' asked Sasuke to himself. "So you hate murderers?"

Sasuke frowned. "I can't answer that question."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "I'm a murderer. Do you hate me?"

Sasuke twitched guiltily as Itachi sat up in his bed, rubbing at his eyes. "No ..."

Kakashi waited until Sasuke looked back at him before speaking again. "Listen, Sasuke. This is a classified mission. I can't tell you where I'm going, but I can tell you that I might not come back. That's the way all missions are. There's always the possibility that I'll never come back." He tilted his head back a bit, and Sasuke could see his smile outlined by the thin hospital lights.

"This time, it's almost guaranteed that if the mission is completed, I'll be dead."

For some reason, Sasuke tensed. He hadn't thought about it. Well, of course he'd known the possibilities were there, but Kakashi? The famed Mirror-Eye Kakashi? Die on a mission? It seemed impossible. He had always assumed that the stupid, late, lazy teacher would always find a way to drag himself back in one piece ... "Sasuke, listen to me. I was talking to Iruka before I came here. If you want to know something about my mission, talk to him."

Sasuke frowned. "Why would a chuunin have information about a jounin-rank mission?" Kakashi's eye glinted mysteriously, and Sasuke snorted. "Never mind. I'll talk to him."

The jounin nodded his approval. "Good. For now ..." The jounin drew himself up and pocketed the orange novel, turning to Itachi's bed. The younger man looked up at the jounin with a cocked head. "Hey, you're still here. Hi. I sorta fell asleep after you came in. My name's Uchiha Itachi." Kakashi smiled. Sasuke's eyes widened as the jounin pulled down his mask with a finger and kissed Itachi's forehead. Itachi blushed and put a hand where Kakashi's lips had been, then called out to the turning jounin, "Hey--" There was a poof, and Kakashi was gone. Silence drifted through the room and Itachi slowly turned his gaze on his younger brother. "You ... tell me why he did that." Sasuke's eye twitched.

_'Kakashi ...'_

"Hey! Tell me why he did that!" demanded the older Uchiha, bouncing on his bed. "Why'd he ... kiss me?" He puled the blankets up to hide his smile and Sasuke groaned and held his forehead. "Why didn't they just kill you?" he muttered to himself. Still, he took the seat next to his older brother and propped his chin up on his palm.

"All right. I'll tell you why if you tell me something."

"You want something, too? Like a eye for a eye?" asked Itachi curiously. Sasuke sweatdropped. _'Not the analogy I would have used, but it works.' _"Yeah, something like that." Itachi nodded and Sasuke lifted his head off his hand. "Tell me what you remember about our--your family."

Itachi's face lit up. "Ooooh, that's easy. I have a great mom, who makes me the best lunches, and she helps me get the scrolls that dad hides in the living room. She's real good at making things to drink, and she teaches me how to make antidotes and stuff that I'm not supposed to tell other people. She takes me an' Sasuke and Dad to the market special on our birthdays and gets us all the food we want! She's the best mom there is. Dad's trying to teach me how to throw kunai, but I know that already. He also tries to teach me shuriken, but I know that, too. Dad took me on one of his missions once, to the Wave country! We met the coolest people there! And, and, and he always gets me the weapons I need. Then, there's Sasuke! He's the best little brother ever. He likes practicing with shuriken and sushi and the color blue, and, and, and he's always around to play with me! He follows me and looks up to me, and I'm gonna teach him how to throw shuriken the right way, not like dad's way. He's quiet sometimes, but when he talks to me, his face lights up and he's so ... cute! I think he's gonna be my best friend for a long time. Well, other than that, I got two cousins on my mom's side, and ..." Sasuke stopped listening as Itachi dove off into subdivisions of his family. His mind was being flooded with images of his past, exactly as Itachi had described them. His father taking him out into the woods for shuriken and kunai throwing practice. His brother taking him out afterwards for better lessons. His mother sneaking snacks into his lunch. Trips to the food market on his birthday for all the sushi he could eat. His older brother's smiling face. And the family he would have died to protect. The face that had been at their murder site was lit up like a christmas tree, speaking fluently of times when all of them were together. Sasuke shook his head slowly. "... and then Grandpa--hey, mister? Are you ok?" Sasuke blinked.

"Y-yes. Yes. I'm fine." Itachi nodded and then scooted forwards on the bed. "Then, could you tell me why that man kissed me?" Sasuke sighed. "Hey," said Itachi, his eyes narrowing, "You better tell me. I told you all about my family and I don't even know your name. Whass your name, anyway? Last time you told me, I fell asleep." Sasuke frowned. "I'll answer one or the other." Itachi crossed his arms and his brow furrowed as he thought on it. Which was more important? The name of this stranger? Or the reason behind the kiss? Sasuke weighed them in his head from Itachi's point of view. The second would be of more value, in his mind.

"What's your name?" Sasuke's eyes widened. "Huh?" Itachi pouted. "I chose tha question. I wanna know who you are." Sasuke stared at his older brother. "But ... you ... don't you want to know why Kakashi kissed you?" Itachi nodded and pulled the sheets up over his face again. "Yeah ... but I wanna know you. You're a nice person. I like you."

Sasuke looked at the window next to Itachi's bed.

"My name's Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."

Itachi blinked twice. "Sasuke? Little brother?"

Sasuke nodded, choking out the name he thought he'd sworn never to call this man again. "Yes ... aniki." Itachi's eyes widened. The repression seal snapped and unraveled slightly, leaking back some of Itachi's mentality. The older Uchiha gripped his head and jerked forwards, letting out a yell that echoed through the hospital floors.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

_(A/N: ... (blushes) ... uh ... rating changes drastically here ... (blushes and flees)...)_

Kaiva was inside the fortress with a cough. Naruto was staring at the sky outside on the front porch. Gaara was setting traps.

It had been a week now. Where was everyone? A few footsteps brought Naruto out of his thoughts. "Gaa-chan!" He glomped the other boy as he shut the door behind him. The red head's arms wrapped around his waist without hesitating, a motion they'd become accustomed to performing. Then, they released each other and moved outside to play with the snow.

_'So what if we're eighteen?'_ thought Gaara to himself, _'Playing in the snow is fun._' Anyone who dared to argue otherwise would be squished by the sand, he decided as he and Naruto attacked the whiteness that surrounded their fortress. Bunshin made hide-and-seek a possibility. Exploding-kunai-tag quickly became a favorite, especially when combined with hide-and-seek. But even the snow became boring as Naruto wailed the obvious at his red-haired partner. "Gaaaaa-chan! I'm booooorrred!"

Naruto jumped into a fresh pile of snow, causing half of the white flakes to scatter and the other half to crunch silently under his weight. The blonde blinked his eyes open and looked up into Gaara's face. "I know, I'm bored, too." He fell in the snow next to Naruto with a sigh. "It's taking so long. I thought that we wouldn't have to massacre entire villages to get some exercise." The red head radiated stress. Power had been building in them both as they waited in anticipation. They'd thought a few prods would get some kind of army on its feet, but if they took any longer, it would be too late. Gaara clenched his fist. Raw chakra flared up around it and Naruto blinked and rolled ontop of him. He laced his fingers through Gaara's hair and spread his legs to straddle the other boy's waist.

"We can exercise ourselves," suggested Naruto, a grin spreading over his face, "it's been forever since we fought each other!" Gaara blinked and then turned his head sideways to kiss Naruto's palms. The blonde moved down to Gaara's neck, pressing his lips against the cold pale skin. "Cold," complained Naruto as Gaara brought his knees up. The motion slid Naruto down from his waist to his chest and the blue-eyed blonde felt two fingers at the edge of his shirt.

"Warm us up," commanded Gaara as the younger boy slid a hand up along Gaara's neck. "Oh ..." He leaned down, placing his lips where his fingers had been. Cool, feather-light kisses marked a path up to his cheek. Naruto blinked down at jade eyes, suddenly unsure. He had no clue what he was doing, after all. "Y-You want me to warm you up?" Gaara nodded. A blush spread across Naruto's face and Gaara's hands pulled the blonde down again. "W-wait, Gaa-chan," Naruto protested weakly, "I don't know how ..."

"I'll tell you where," said Gaara softly, bringing their foreheads together and staring into Naruto's wide, blue eyes, "and you'll know what to do."

Naruto blinked twice, unsteady confusion giving way to trust and some kind of confidence. "All right. If Gaara will tell Naruto where, Naruto will know what to do." Gaara nodded and his hands left Naruto's flushing cheeks, sliding down over his chest to his waist. The blonde jumped as Gaara's hand slid against his thigh. "Ah-_ah_-" Jade eyes blinked up. "Hm?" Blue eyes opened, barely holding back laughter. "T-tickles ..." Gaara cocked his head to the side and moved his hand down and pushed Naruto onto his lap and sat up.

The blonde looked at Gaara curiously. "Here?"

The red head nodded. "Here."

Somehow, in the back of his mind, something clicked. A hand brushed against Gaara's waist and then slid under his waistband. Gaara felt his body tense, tingling sensations eating away at his fingers and feet. His back arched just a bit, and Naruto stopped. Gaara opened his mouth to protest and found a tongue in the place of the cold wintry air. However, he couldn't complain at the substitute. Naruto shifted off of Gaara's leg but kept his hand where it was, the other holding the back of Gaara's head, weaving through short red strands of silk. Blue eyes blinked as fingers brushed against the skin again. It was getting warmer. Naruto pulled out of the kiss. "Is Gaa-chan warm enough?" Gaara's body jerked and he felt his grip around Naruto's other wrist tighten. "N-No ..." Gaara grit out as the movement stopped, "keep moving." Naruto nodded and his hand moved again, slowly, slightly unsure but at least not completely oblivious. Gaara felt his strength to sit failing and felt Naruto wrap around him, right hand at his lap, left at the base of his neck, fingers running through blood-colored hair, his mouth busy tasting the skin at his neck. His left knee was bent and Gaara leaned back against in, gasping. This was a new feeling for the blonde, seeing his life-long partner in such a state of passion for the first time. Naruto paused for only a second before moving quicker, picking his head up from Gaara's skin to watch his face. With his eyes shut in some form of bliss, head resting on Naruto's left shoulder, Gaara looked so different than any other time he'd seen him before. He felt his own body tense, clench at his lower body and his hand trembled. Gaara flinched and bit his lip as Naruto's hand was coated with something white and sticky. Naruto frowned. It wasn't snow. Gaara panted, collapsing against Naruto's shoulder. "Stop?" Gaara nodded, his head rubbing against Naruto's shoulder bone. The blonde pulled his hand up and smiled at Gaara. "You were right," he said as Gaara peeked up through his bangs, too tired to lift his head, "I knew what to do."

_/I don't know how ... but I did. I do./ _There was no explaining it, but Naruto knew what he had done. He felt a gentle thought from Gaara's mind. _'From ... from merging. With Kyuubi and ... shukaku.'_ Understanding drew across Naruto's face and then dropped. "I'm not Kyuubi."

_'No ... you're Naruto. My Naruto ... merging might have given us some of them, though.'_ He pulled himself up and pressed his lips to Naruto's. A hand touched his cheek and they drew apart, smiling.

"If you're still tired, I'll carry you back." Gaara's cheeks matched his hair.

"... ... hn ..."

The blonde pulled Gaara's arms over his shoulders and put his own arms under Gaara's legs. A white sky opened its arms and bright blue patches peeked through, snow falling down from the cuts in the clouds in place of blood. The red head smooshed their cheeks together as Kaiva waved at them from the open doors. His heart was beating softly, slowly. Contently. He looked around.

The snow. The fortress.

A smiling friend at the door. A warm, carefree lover in his arms. The endless blue sky opened before him, and he knew.

This was what it felt like to be home.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

End

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

I thought that might be a nice place to end the happy-fluffy chapter. The next chapter is all plot and fighting. -

Now, I won't work on this for a while because I've got AP exams. Two of em. I have to study, but if I don't, this will be what I work on. Hey! The dictionary said that 'smooshed' isn't a word! I want that changed! Thanks to the people who review every chapter and make me feel special! -

**PLEASE**

_**PLEASE**_

please

Please, read the following notes.

**Pairings:**

Ok. There's probably some major confusion about what the F8 I've done to the pairings. I am here to clarify.

_Both ways_ means that both boys/girls/boy-girl approve of and participate in the relationship. These are set in stone; they shall not change.

_One-way_ implies that only one person feels that way. I will list these pairings in the order of who likes the person that doesn't like them back. These will be elaborated upon.

**Both ways:**

Naruto X Gaara, Sasuke X Neji, Kakashi X Itachi, Sakura X Lee, Shikamaru X Chouji. More will introduce themselves as we get more into the plot (involving more people. :P)

**One way:**

Tenten-Neji, Sasuke-Naruto, Gaara-Neji, Sasuke-Kakashi

_Tenten-Neji_: Tenten likes Neji, who doesn't like her back. That simple.

_Sasuke-Naruto_: Sasuke's confused about his feelings for Naruto from his childhood and his feelings NOW for Neji.

_Gaara-Neji_: Almost the same as above. Gaara's confused about his feelings for Neji, the person who symbolizes the power he has. Of course, he and Naruto are and will always remain the main pair of this story besides Neji-Sasuke.

_Sasuke-Kakashi_: This is simply student appreciation for his teacher's wisdom, even if Sasuke won't admit it.

Now, to reply to reviews!

**Altariel Eldalote:** Sorry I didn't touch up much on the Itachi situation ... but there's more to come. I've got lots of stuff to work with here! It's so much stuff I can't decide what to do with it! (squeals) The Gaara Naruto 'thing' is love, baby! And with love, there's physical pleasure and spiritual warmth that nothing can describe ... I certainly can't capture exactly what I see between the two of them and tell you, but I try as hard as I can. I HAD to kill off the kids ... so that Kankuro will have a grudge against the killers, who, unbeknownst to him, is his own brother that he wishes he'd known sooner. Dramatic ... I had high hopes for Konohamaru's friends, but after I killed him off, I was short on people 'close' to the Hokage, and ... T-T;; this happens. Hope it was interesting!

**DeAtHaNgEL-LaVeNdA:** Yay! I'm glad you think it's ok! I try hard!

**Ruby Heart**: I try to limit my problems people have to about 10, or else I lose track of them. So much stuff, running around ... but it makes for great material to work!

**inuyasha-sakura:** Yay! Go plot! Anyway, I'm trying for a description, but I don't know ... I ... I'm not really good at ... well ... I hope to get one in later because the Konoha team is going to meet up with them, and THAT's when I can put it in! Yeah! Thanks for the great idea! -

**Princess Kitana:** I'm glad you approve of the Gaa/Naru. Personally, they ARE together, in a way, already. In the manga/anime ... just ... a connection that being Sasuke's _rival_ can't even touch. (sigh) Well, uh ... I have to do more on Kakashi and Itachi, now that I've done a scene for Naruto and Gaara, and a kinda one for Sasuke and Neji ... hope you like!

**ranma hibiki**: Sort of, but he gets his memories back. - Slowly.

**TFI-Muse: ** ... 0-0 G-God-sent? (faints)

Sasuke: ... I also liked the scene with Neji. But the staring thing he did in this chapter was ... freaky.

Neji: Now you see how **_I _**felt.

Itachi: I didn't like it. I don't know whether I'm still messed up or not. (glowers)

Kaiva: You're mean, I dislike you ... But you probably don't like me either, so it's o-k! (smiles and waves)

(un-faints) ... ah ... I, uh, I wanted to thank you, uh, for your WONDERFUL c-co-continued s-support ... ah ... (blushes) ... um ... (emotional overload)

(runs away)

**Kiba**: That's all folks!

**Kaiva**: No! He lies! See, there's even a preview below us!

**Naruto**: Wow, she's right!

**Kiba**: Darn, I thought they wouldn't notice ...

PREVIEW:

"They can't go. They're neither of jounin rank or on an ANBU squad. They don't qualify for the mission."

"Oh, I knew _that_ ... but you can't let them go NEXT time. **This** mission will fail."

"But ... then--"

"Sasuke, this isn't my battle. You have to figure it out on your own."

"Look, they're here!"

Gaara frowned as he took a count. "That's not enough," he hissed, the sand swirling at his feet, "not enough ..." Naruto smiled and put an arm around Gaara's neck.

"There would have been more if you hadn't played with the sand."

Neji paused. "Tenten...?" The chocolate-eyed girl blushed. "I've always loved you."

The door opened and Sasuke's eyes widened as Tenten pressed her lips to Neji's.

Is this too much? ... -

**That's it! See you next time!**


	18. Over Looked

**Chapter 18: Over looked**

This took forever to write. The next one should be quicker. T-T so lazy ...

Wow! 18 whole chapters! And reviews to boot! You guys rock! Special thanks to **Altariel Eldalote**, **TFI-Muse**, **Ruby Heart,** and **DeAtHaNgEL-LaVeNdA**, who review every chapter! You are my LIFE!

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Kakashi looked at the ANBU mask on his bed._ 'I never thought I'd have to wear this again. So soon._' He slid the mask on over his other mask, moving his headband from his eye to his shoulder, just under the spiral of smoke tattooed on his arm. The symbol of an ANBU. Kakashi sighed as a bird landed on his windowsil, chirping loudly.

"All right, all right," he said as he slid out the door, "I'm going." The bird gave another chirp and flitted off the window sil. Kakashi looked back at his apartment and then looked to the roof.

Thoughts of the day before came back to his mind.

((**short** **flashback**))

"_Kakashi!" The silver-haired jounin, who had been quietly sitting on the chuunin's roof, minding his own business, was suddenly on his back twenty feet from his first position, Iruka panting as he stopped to catch his breath. _

"_Hullo, Iruka," said Kakashi cheerfully as he sat up and made sure he hadn't dislocated anything. Iruka caught his breath. "What brings you here?"_

"_Kakashi, you can't let them go." The older man blinked. "Hm?" _

"_You can't let them go on the mission." Kakashi frowned. "You mean Sasuke and Neji and the others ..." Iruka nodded. The jounin's eyes narrowed. "Did Naruto tell you this?"_

"_Yes." _

_Kakashi shut his good eye. "They can't go. They're neither of jounin rank or on an ANBU squad. They don't qualify for the mission." _

"_Oh, I knew **that**," said Iruka seriously, "but you can't let them go NEXT time." Kakashi looked at him sharply. The chuunin spread his open palms, as if to show the battlefield. "**This** mission will fail. You'll die if you're in the first ranks. There will be a few surviviors, but if you're in the front line, you're going to die." He closed one fist and moved his other hand across in a sweeping motion. "All but two teams will be eliminated." Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "They told you."_

"_Yes." Iruka dropped his hands and Kakashi put his hands into his pockets. "... how are they?" _

_Iruka's eyes widened and then a brilliant smile lit his face. "They're doing great." The chuunin spoke softly, Kakashi listening and nodding his head every once in a while. The clouds over head passed slowly, forming shapes and playing tag and hide and seek with the sun._

((**end** **flashback**))

Kakashi sighed as he started off towards the gates.

Afternoons in Konoha always seemed to drag on forever.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Itachi blinked his eyes open drearily. "Uhnn ..."

"Look, he's awake." Itachi immediately backed up, hands reaching to his side for a weapons holster that wasn't there. "Sasuke, be careful!"

Itachi's eyes opened fully. "Sasuke?" The seventeen-year-old gennin stood a few feet away from Itachi's bedside. The older Uchiha drew himself up on the bed, moving his bangs out of the way with a slender pale hand. There were two people in the room besides him, the teenager in front of him and a Hyuuga girl with purple hair. Itachi narrowed his eyes. "What is this?" he asked to no on in particular. Sasuke considered his options. "Uchiha Itachi, right?" The older man slowly regarded Sasuke. "Yes, I am."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen. Who are you?" Sasuke turned to Hinata. "Tell the Godaime."

"Godaime?" Itachi's voice called out from the bed, "What are you talking about? There's no Godaime yet." Sasuke turned away from Hinata. "Go," he urged, and she nodded, shutting the door as she departed for Tsunade's office. Itachi turned his gaze on the other Uchiha.

"What did you mean by Godaime? Who are you?" Sasuke sighed. Did he have to explain everything again? Before he could start, the door opened and Neji came in with a frown on his face. "Sasuke, Gai-sensei just left for an important mission. Did Kakashi-sensei tell you anything about a mission today?"

"Gai's a teacher?" Neji looked at Itachi and then his eyes widened. "Did you say Kakashi-_sensei_?" Itachi's eyes were widening now. "You **did** say 'sensei'. When did Kakashi become a teacher?" Sasuke sighed and put a hand to his fore head.

"You're Uchiha Itachi, and your memory is being suppressed," he said after a pause, causing Itachi to jump at the sudden focus the other boy gave him, "I'm Sasuke. Younger brother. Yes, Kakashi is a teacher, and so is Gai. That's Hyuuga Neji." The white-eyed boy blushed as Sasuke grabbed him by the wrist and pushed him in front of Itachi, who nodded in greeting. Neji did the same and backed away from the bed as Itachi's eyes flickered from black to red. In response, he activated his Byakugan just the slightest bit, and just as quickly, Itachi deactivated the Shiringan. "Sorry," he murmured, "just feels weird ..." He looked up at Sasuke. "Can I see Kakashi? Sasuke?" Sasuke shook his head and slid Neji a glance. "No. Kakashi's on the mission, too. Neji, about the mission ..." Sasuke paused. _'Kakashi said that he was going to die if the mission was a success. Gai's on the mission too ... then Neji has a right to know,'_ Sasuke argued as he gestured for them to sit next to Itachi's bedside. The dark-haired boy watched Sasuke sit with a soft, calculating gaze. When they sat, Itachi propped up his head on a palm that rested on his thigh and gave his brother a smirk.

"Not you too, Sasuke?" The younger boy blinked. Neji got it, and blushed.

Sasuke frowned. "What about me?" Itachi's smirk widened.

"Which one of you is wearing the dress?" Sasuke's eyes widened. Neji put a hand to his face. "We can wear tuxes," he murmured as Itachi's grin reached from ear to ear and Sasuke flushed. "This isn't the time to talk about that!" he hissed but Itachi just grinned at his brother and reached a hand out to poke his forehead with two fingers.

Sasuke froze, but his hand rose to cover the area on his head.

"Tomorrow, then," said Itachi as he sat up right, the smile that graced his face taking ages of isolation and darkness off his shoulders and face, and suddenly he was sixteen again, smiling and making promises that he never kept. "I promise." Sasuke felt his breath come thin and ragged, and suddenly he was eight, frowning and grumbling about his brother's habit of breaking his promises. "Sure. You're always poking me in the head and saying 'tomorrow, tomorrow,' but I never see it." The younger boy's hand flew from his forehead to his mouth and Neji felt very out of place but happy at the same time as Sasuke relived something that he'd buried a long time ago.

"I promise," Itachi said again as the smile widened, as if breathing its last breath, and then the warmth faded from his face slightly and he leaned back against the cushions of his hospital bed, holding his head. Sasuke nodded and put his hand down slowly, the aura of brightness fading from him as well, and it stung Neji to see the cool, cold Sasuke come back and lean back casually in his chair, eyes cast everywhere but his company. Before the silence could stretch, Neji spoke up. "You were saying something about the mission Gai and Kakashi went on?" The raven-haired boy nodded slowly and shut his eyes, trying to relax a bit. Then he winced, as if realizing something.

_'I forgot,_' Sasuke thought as he opened his eyes and looked at his brother,_ 'Itachi thinks he's sixteen ... and I don't know how he'd react to hearing that Kakashi's almost guarnteed to die on his next mission.' _But Sasuke realized that he didn't know much about his brother's relationship with his teacher in his present mental state. Itachi's mind might not remember being in love with Kakashi yet._ 'I still have to be careful,'_ he thought, _'if not love, then Itachi would be generally worried for his teammate.' _"Itachi ... before I tell you and Neji this, you have to promise me something." Itachi nodded.

"Promise that you won't leave the hospital, no matter what."

Itachi blinked and then realization flickered across his face. "Sasuke ..."

"Promsie."

"Sasuke, tell me what's wrong with the mission."

"You have to swear that you won't leave the hospital first!" Neji turned to look at the dark-haired boy who was slowly getting to his feet, as if to try and intimidate the older boy. "Sasuke, is this really a good idea? You think you can stop him if he tries to leave? What good is a promise from someone who can beat you?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "He has the right to know," he grit out through clenched teeth, glowing at the older man's challenge.

Itachi sat back against the bed. "I promise."

Neji and Sasuke turned to face him, eyes wide and very confused.

"You could have left with Neji-san and told only him," explained Itachi as the two boys regarded him with stares, "but you want me to know, too, respecting my rights to know about Kakashi's mission. For that, I promise I will **not** leave this hospital, Sasuke, whatever it is you tell me." Sasuke sighed. "Fine." He slid back down in his chair, Neji keeping an eye on both of the Uchihas. Sasuke folded his hands together and set his forehead on them, then looked at the window.

"The mission Kakashi and Gai are on... if it is successful, Kakashi and Gai should be dead." Itachi's hands clenched. Neji swallowed unconsciously, face tightening in fear. Sasuke looked away from the window. "But there's an unbelievably high failure rate. Almost 99 percent. Then ... there's a high chance they'll die if it fails, too." Neji's fists clenched. "That's ... unfair. If they succeed, they die, and if they fail, they die as well?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It's a possibility. It's always been a possibility. It's just ... infinitely higher this time."

Itachi shut his eyes and fell back against the bed. Kakashi ... there was no way that Kakashi could die on a stupid mission. But ... Itachi still felt a foreboding wave of uncertainty about the mission. A familiar face flashed in his mind, though he didn't know the person's name, the face was one he knew. _"... once you have the seals and their effects memorized, you can go anywhere you want in the blink of an eye ..."_ Seals ... and effects ... suddenly, he had an idea. Not showing any signs of movement, he imagined forming the seals necessary for a kage bunshin, and then returned his attention to Sasuke in the hospital room. "I promised. I'm not going anywhere." He smiled and shut his eyes as Neji and Sasuke talked in soft voices.

The dark-eyed boy leapt off the hospital roof, heading towards the northern gates.

Itachi's eyes opened as the door to his room opened, revealing a brown-eyed girl wearing a white chinese shirt. "Neji-kun," she called as she helped herself into the room and latched onto the boy's arm, "Gai-sensei is leaving on an important mission! Come with me and Lee to say good-bye!" Neji looked to Sasuke. "But Tenten, I'm not done talking with Sasuke and his brot--"

"You can talk to them anytime," she protested, "Come and say good bye to Gai-sensei! Please?" The white-eyed boy didn't have time to reply as the brown-eyed girl dragged him from the room, waving at the two Uchihas as she kicked the door shut behind her. Sasuke stared at the door until the sound of Tenten stomping through the halls couldn't be heard. Then he turned to his brother.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something," he said softly, scooting closer to his brother's bedside. The older man crossed his arms and laid them on his knees. "Ok," he said, lying his head on his arms, "so what's up? I don't know how much help I'll be if I've forgotten some of my life."

"Do you... what's your relationship with Kakashi right now?"

"We're together," he said bluntly.

Sasuke nodded. "Ok. Then I have a question ... while you were getting together with Kakashi ..." he trailed off, frowning._ 'That still sounds wrong, getting 'together' with Kakashi in any way,'_ he thought, shuddering. "... did anyone try to get in the way?" Itachi cocked his head to one side in thought. "Hmm ... not that I remember," he said slowly, "Nope." Sasuke sighed. "Then did you ever feel torn between two people?" Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Well ... there was this one girl..."

Sasuke blinked. "You like girls?"

"You don't?" Sasuke flushed. "... you ... you ..." A corner of Itachi's mouth crept up. "Stop smirking at me!"

"Calm down, I'm not smirking. I thought you wanted to ask me a question." Sasuke calmed down, still slightly flustered. "Ok. Ok ..."

"This is the problem," he said, looking at his brother, "I know I love Neji. I'd give my life for him. But ... there's this other guy. His name's Naruto." For some reason, the name clicked with Itachi. He didn't have a clue where he remembered the name from, but he knew the name matched the face and voice he'd heard in his head a few minutes ago. "He used to live in Konoha a long time ago. Almost thirteen years ago. But I can't stop thinking about him. He was the only person besides Neji who saw me for myself at that age. Then he left, and I saw him again at the Chuunin exam selection." Sasuke paused and Itachi saw something sad flicker across his brother's face as he lowered his gaze. "But that Naruto was different from when we were five and six. He killed the Sandaime."

"So this Naruto killed the third Hokage?" asked Itachi curiously, "and you think you like him?" Sasuke nodded.

"You're an idiot."

Sasuke's gaze snapped up to meet his brother's frowning face. "What?"

"I said you're an idiot, Sasuke," repeated Itachi with an undertone of disappointment, "How long have you had this going on?"

"I ... I've been confused since I kissed Neji," he confessed. "I love him, but for some reason I keep thinking about Naruto." Itachi picked his head up from his arms. "Well, then you just have to open your eyes." Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean?"

The older Uchiha heaved a sigh in exasperation. _'Now I know how Iruka felt when he was trying to get me to talk to Kakashi,'_ he thought to himself as he sat up and motioned for Sasuke to come closer to the bedside. "Sasuke, this isn't my battle. You have to figure it out on your own. Besides, you're an Uchiha. You can figure _this_--" he prodded Sasuke's chest, "--out without help from your older brother." The man gave him a smile. "Now go find your boyfriend and tell him you love him." The black-haired boy blushed and ran to the door, nodding at Itachi on his way out.

Itachi nodded and Sasuke shut the door, and then dissolved in a puff of smoke. The real Itachi continued on towards the northern gates.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Almost meters away from the northern gates, Itachi felt his clone dissolve. _'I'll have to make another one,_' he decided, _'Just in case anyone comes inside to 'check up' on me_.' He skidded to a stop on a roof top and a clone dropped to his side. "The Hyuuga will know, and so will your brother," the clone warned as he turned and disappeared towards the hospital.

"I know," Itachi muttered, turning to go in the opposite direction, "I won't be long."

"We'll be waiting," promised Neji as Gai and Lee were pried apart by Tenten and Kakashi. "Lee, come on, Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei have to get going or else the Hokage will leave without them."

"No they won't," said Kakashi from behind his mask as Gai and Lee tried to hug though Kakashi and Tenten held them back, "Tsunade needs every able jounin and ANBU member she can spare. There's almost a hundred men waiting for us, along with the Hokage." Gai stopped struggling and Lee composed himself. "All right. You three take care! I will be back!" Lee nodded as Tenten let go of him. Kakashi blinked and Gai waved as Lee walked off with Neji, Tenten grabbing his arm. The white-eyed boy sweat dropped and tried to pull away, but Tenten held onto his arm like a magnet. The Hyuuga branch member sighed and walked off with Lee, who waved frantically at his jounin teacher one last time before they turned a corner back into the village. As soon as they were out of sight, Gai stopped waving and turned to the gates.

"Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?"

Itachi stepped out from the shadows of the gates, looking at the jounin to his left. "I had to see you."

Kakashi looked to Gai. "Go on," he said, "I'll catch up." The jounin nodded and then winked at Kakashi. The jounin disappeared and Kakashi was left alone with the tall, long-haired Uchiha.

"Sasuke told me about your mission." Kakashi took his ANBU mask off. "Itachi, you should be back in the hospital."

"I'm fine," he argued, grabbing Kakashi's sleeves and pulling the other man close, "I don't care about this whole amnesia thing. I still love you, no matter what I've forgotten." Kakashi flinched and pulled away from the younger man. "I love all of you, Itachi," Kakashi said, "and I'll wait until the part of you that's locked away comes back to me." Itachi frowned and let go of Kakashi's sleeves. "When you come back, I'll be better. I'll remember," he promised.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "_When_ I return, not _if_?"

"I'm not giving you a choice," Itachi clarified, "You **will** come back. Unless you're calling me a liar?" Kakashi smiled. "I wouldn't do that. When I return, I hope you'll be waiting for me." Itachi nodded and the older man held his gaze for a moment before pulling him into his arms and crushing Itachi in an embrace. The wide-eyed Uchiha could hardly breathe as Kakashi wrapped his arms around the other man, as if trying to blend their physical bodies into one. "I'll be waiting," Itachi promised.

"And I'll come back." The silver-haired man released him and looked down at Itachi. Itachi reached up and pulled down Kakashi's face mask, running a pale hand over the man's face. Kakashi put his arms at Itachi's waist as the Uchiha leaned up and pressed his lips to Kakashi's.

"When you come back," Itachi whispered, and pulled away from his lips. Kakashi nodded and disappeared over the gates. Itachi vaulted to the rooftops and put a hand on his mouth, fingers tingling. On his way back to the hospital, he passed Sasuke, who was in too much of a hurry to realize who he'd passed.

'_This Neji person must mean a lot to him,_' Itachi mused amusidly as he found his way back into his hospital window.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Hinata frowned. Tsunade wasn't in her office. The purple-haired Hyuuga had gotten to the Hokage's office as quickly as she could, only to be told by a chuunin that most of the jounin and ANBU had gone on a mission with the Hokage herself. One of the Hyuuga Main House members was sitting in for her, and told Hinata that it would be impossible to find the Hokage currently. The frustrated kunoichi had politely thanked the man and went to the lower levels of the building to see if anyone else might know. It was getting dark, probably about six o-clock, and the staff were slowly leaving the building. Hinata was wondering if she'd be able to deliver her message in time. The Hyuuga member turned a corner and froze.

Shikamaru opened his eyes as Chouji pulled back. The lazy chuunin turned his head and gave Hinata a sideways smile.

"Hi, Hinata."

The purple-haired Hyuuga flushed every color between pink and red so fast that Shikamaru thought she might explode. "I--I--I--I'm v-very sorry!" she blurted out as Shikamaru chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Hinata. We shouldn't have been making out in the hallways, anyway."

"But almost everyone else is gone," protested Chouji as he let go of Shikamaru, "so we thought it was ok. Sorry if we startled you."

"N-N-No, that's quite all right," said Hinata as she took deep breaths, "I-I-it's r-really m-muh-my fault ..." Shikamaru laughed. "Take some deep breaths and then ask your question." Hinata nodded, breathing deeply before looking up at Shikamaru with a curious gaze. "How d-did you know I needed to ask a question?" Shikamaru shrugged. "Why else would you be looking for people this late?" Hinata nodded and her breath finally caught up with her.

"D-do, uh, do you know w-where Tsunade-sama might be?" Shikamaru nodded, sliding his arms back from Chouji's waist. "Sure. On a mission."

"So I've heard. W-what kind of mission is it?"

"Top-secret," Chouji said, "why do you wanna know?"

"Because I have to tell her something -- from Sasuke-kun," she explained as Shikamaru and Chouji began to walk down the hall towards the exit, though slowly enough to hint that she should follow, "It's about his brother." Shikamaru nodded. "Well, it's too late, she's gone. I can tell you more about the mission on the way home." Hinata was about to ask why they couldn't talk about it at the moment when there was a tiny 'click'. "You know, this building's security system sure is awesome," stated Chouji casually as they walked along, "it's even set up to record the things that people say after hours, just in case some idiots come in and try to steal things." Hinata's eyes widened. _'Oh, so this is why they don't want to talk about it ... casually discussing a mission this serious would be bad for Shikamaru-kun and Chouji-kun. I'm glad they know this building well.' _"That's great, b-but it's really late. We should head out now. Can I treat you two to something?"

Shikamaru nodded. _'Good, she's caught on.'_ "Sure, Hinata-chan. Thanks for the offer." Chouji held the door open and the three leaf nins walked out of the building.

"That was great, Hinata," Shikamaru said as they made their way into the evening crowds, "you caught on fast."

"O-oh, thanks," Hinata murmured, blushing, "but it's nothing. Do you want something to eat?" Shikamaru nodded. "Sure. It's the best cover for holding important conversations. Pick someplace noisy, and we'll pick up the tab." Hinata shook her head. "B-but, I can ..."

"No really," Shikamaru insisted, "do you really want to have to pay to treat Choji?" The brown-haired boy smacked Shikamaru in the head, causing Hinata to giggle. "I guess not," she said as the lazy chuunin rubbed his head, "let's go there." The three slid into the restaurant and took a table in the middle of the room. Chouji took care of ordering food for all three of them while Shikamaru talked to Hinata in undertones.

"Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and even Kurenai have gone on the mission, isn't that right?"

"Correct. Every avaliable jounin and ANBU member, active or not, has been called for this one mission." Hinata leaned back in her chair, picking up her glass and taking a drink. _'Why all the force?_' she asked herself. "What could possibly require those kind of numbers? Is the Hokage trying to start a war?"

"No," replied Shikamaru out of the corner of his mouth, "it's not that."

"But why would she need-" Hinata paused and thanked their waiter as he delivered their small entries, waiting until he returned to the kitchen to speak again, "-that many people? What could she possibly aim to do with that much force?"

"Do you remember Naruto?" Hinata paused, her fork halfway to her mouth. The image of a laughing, blonde boy with blue eyes washed over her mind like a wave on the beach. "Yes ... yes I remember him. How could anyone forget that guy?" She felt pink draw itself across her cheeks, but she didn't care. Shikamaru sighed. "Do you remember what he did at the exam?"

Another image of the blonde washed over her: blue eyes smiling as blood dripped off the screaming orange jumpsuit, the Third's head in his hand like some kind of prize.

Hinata put her fork down. The food didn't taste good anymore.

"I'm sorry," Shikamaru said honestly, "I didn't mean to upset you." Chouji nodded. The purple haired kunoichi shook her head. "No ... i-it's ok. I'm fine." Shikamaru rose an eyebrow. "I'll tell you about the rest of the mission, all right? Just don't get all teary over that guy, Naruto. He's involved." Hinata blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"What? Why is he involved?"

Shikamaru swallowed, raising his glass to his lips and taking a long draught. Hinata remembered that they were supposed to keep up the appearance of just eating, and so she forced a bit down her throat. It tasted terrible. The lazy chuunin put his glass down and looked at Hinata.

"Tsunade's gathered almost 100 jounin and ANBU members to take out two of the most dangerous people: Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto." Hinata's eyes widened and she almost dropped her fork. "She and the others are headed to a new country; the Snow country. It's up north. One of the people with Gaara and Naruto took something very dear to her. Her grandfather's necklace." Hinata gasped. Chouji put down his chopsticks. Shikamaru sighed. "That's right. And so, that's what's up."

Hinata stared down at her plate. No one moved for a long time.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Naruto had a problem. Aki and Taro didn't fit in the fortress anymore.

"It's all--their--**fault**," Naruto complained as he bounded back and forth between the giant badger and the towering dragon's foreheads, "if they don't come soon, I think they might explode." Taro gave an indignant shreik and opened her mouth. The blonde yelped and landed on her tongue instead of her head. Gaara paused on the top of Aki's silvery head as a long, mournful, "_eeewwwwww_!" echoed from Taro's mouth. Gaara's jade eyes flickered in amusement.

"Taro, spit that out. Too many sweets will kill your teeth." Taro obediently lifted her head up and gave a puff of air that sent Naruto spiraling into the air.

"Ew, Gaa-chan, Taro licked me!" Aki gave his fur a ruffle, Gaara and Naruto holding onto an ear for support lest they be thrown off of his head, and then paused as a tiny voice called from the ground. Naruto looked down and pushed Gaara off of Aki's head. The surprised sand-nin fell all of fifty feet to where Kaiva stood, calling up at them. The sand shot out and slowed his descent twenty feet from the ground, pulsing warmly against his skin. Gaara's sand receded as his foot touched the ground, Kaiva jogging over and pointing to the south.

"They're _coming_!"

Aki and Taro's eyes widened as Naruto and Gaara's excitement gauge skyrocketed. The two huge animals gave howls as raw energy pulsed from Naruto and Gaara's bodies, the former demon-hosts letting out suppressed chakra as Kaiva laughed and chased after the semi-transparent red flames rolling off of both boys. "Pretty ..."

Sky blue and jade green flashed to purple and yellow and then disappeared completely to greet their guests in person.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**(I am totally apologizing in advance for an OOC Tenten, but she needs to be a little evil for a while. Gomen to all her fans ... T-T)**

Neji dropped to the ground, gathering chakra in his hand as Lee's kick flew just over his head and then paused to come smashing back down into the ground. The white-eyed boy gave a huff and blocked Lee's next kick with a grunt. The green-clad boy gasped as Neji's grip tightened on his leg and the taller boy was chucked into the air. Lee gave a shout as two kunai found their way into his left arm, Tenten smirking and bounding away from Neji's kick which shattered the branch she'd been perched on.

"Ok, that's enough!"

The three gennin dropped to the grass, panting and looking over their injuries. Iruka gave the three a thumbs-up. "That was spectacular! I'm really proud of all of you." Neji snorted, Lee beamed, and Tenten said thanks. "No problem, Tenten," Iruka said as he glanced at her, "but you have to work on your timing. I saw several oppertunities for you to hit Neji while Lee was fighting with him." Neji frowned. "And Neji, you have to work on your speed. You're fast, but if Lee didn't have to stop and change positions, then you'd have been in trouble." Neji nodded, taking his criticism to heart. Iruka squatted down and looked to Lee. "Lee, work on changing positions in mid-air. I know it sounds silly, but I only saw flaw when you had to pause in the middle of the air. If you can make your motions as fluid as they are on land, then you're set." Lee laughed and threw his arms around Iruka, who patted the teenager's head.

"Don't get blood all over Iruka-sensei," Tenten called as she got to her feet, "You should bandage that arm, Lee."

"That's a good idea, Tenten," Iruka said, "Lee, I can take care of that, and then you can catch up with Neji-kun and Tenten-chan and we'll meet them back at the academy." Lee nodded and waved as Tenten and Neji started off towards the academy.

"You were really great today, Neji-kun," Tenten said, laughing, "just like always!"

"Uh ... thanks, Tenten," Neji murmured, looking up and down the streets. Something stung, but he couldn't figure out what it was or it meant. '_I should forget it,_' he thought, disappointed that he was letting his injuries interfere with the way he felt._ 'Of course,'_ Neji thought as Tenten laughed and hung onto his arm, _'it's hard to focus with her hanging all over me._' He sweatdropped as she giggled._ 'She's being really persistent today for some reason ...'_

"... Neji-kun? Are you paying attention?"

Neji nodded absently, hoping that she didn't see he had no clue about what she had been babbling on about before. "Well," the chocolate-eyed girl began, "I was thinking that instead of the academy, we might stop by an ice cream shop! Because it's pretty hot and we just got out of training and all." Neji looked at the sky and then frowned. "No. I'm going to the academy. You can stop for ice cream if you want, though." He shrugged off her arm as politely as he could as they passed a parlor lined with laughing kids and girls hanging over boys. Tenten pouted. "Why not, Neji?" Neji kept on walking as she slowly caught back up with him. "Ice cream isn't the best thing right after training," Neji pointed out, "it doesn't sit right in your stomach."

He paused and looked her in the eyes. "I'd prefer something with less sugar and more ... substance."

The white-eyed boy looked in the hospital's direction, and for a moment he could have sworn that he felt Sasuke's chakra pulse nearby. Tenten's voice pulled him back to his situation as she asked if he was busy later.

"Tenten, I'm going to the academy," he said finally, "if you want to follow, then try to keep the talking down to either a whisper or only two sentences at a time." Tenten stopped in her steps and fell behind, a frown beginning at the sides of her mouth. _'But I can't give up now,'_ she thought as she started off to follow the dark-haired boy towards the academy, _'or else he'll go back to Sasuke. I can't let him do that. Neji's mine. We belong together. I've been waiting for Neji to approach me, but since he's too shy, then I'll make the first move and let him chase me after that.' _She smiled, her depression blown away.

Neji sighed as she caught up. _'Darn ... I was really hoping she'd take the hint and leave me alone. I guess I'm too much of a gentlemen, or too subtle ...'_ One way or the other, Tenten stuck to him like glue even after they reached the academy.

By the time they made it in, Lee and Iruka were coming up behind them. "Hey, you two!" Iruka said grinning as he and Lee walked through the door, "Long time, no see, right?" Neji smirked back at him. "Something like that. Is there something you need help with?"

"We can help you **together**," Tenten said, beaming as she took Neji's arm.

Iruka rose an eyebrow as the Hyuuga member tried to shrug the laughing girl off his arm. "Oh, no, you two can just do what ever," Iruka said with a slight smile, "I just need Lee-kun."

Lee winked at Neji, who made a face and got Tenten off his arm. Iruka and Lee headed off towards Iruka's classroom. The chuunin called back to Neji and Tenten. "Oh, there is something you two can do ... there's a few boxes in the storage room just down that hallway. Could you bring them over?" Neji nodded. "Sure." He turned around so fast that Tenten had to release his arm, and he started off briskly towards the last door in the hallway, Tenten following him.

Tenten looked into the room and made a face. "It's kind of dusty in here," she complained, waving her hand by her face, "Are you sure this is the right room?"

"It's what Iruka-sensei said," Neji reasoned, "so I'll take a few boxes over and see if it's the right room." He hefted two boxes up under each arm and began to walk back to Iruka's classroom. Tenten grabbed one of the smallest boxes and jogged to catch up with him. Inside Iruka's classroom, the brown-haired teacher peered into the boxes and confirmed that they'd gone to the right room. Before Tenten could congratulate him on such a tiny accomplishment, Neji dropped the boxes on Iruka's desk and made a beeline back to the closet. By the time she'd caught up, he'd gotten four more boxes and was heading back to Iruka's classroom.

Tenten frowned. _'If he keeps going at this speed, he'll finish the moving in no time ... then I'll never get to plan A. How to get him to stay in the room for just a while ...'_ An idea came, and she took off her left earing and tossed it into a random box. When Neji made it back to the room, she made a show of looking for something. Neji paused as she began to whimper in frustration. "Something wrong, Tenten?"

"My earring!" She said, pointing to her ear, "My best earring, and it's gone! It's lost somewhere among all this junk! It must have fallen off while I was trying to carry boxes ..."

Neji turned to go back out the door when she grabbed onto his sleeve. "Please! Help me find it. It's very important to me." Neji turned around. "That important?"

"Yes," she breathed as he sighed and went to go looking for the earring.

Sasuke frowned. "Are you sure?" he asked, looking up and down the hallway. The seven-year old nodded her head. "Uh-huh. The guy with white eyes was runnin' back and forth with some of Iruka-sensei's stuff, an' there was this girl with buns on her head, followin' him. She didn't carry much stuff, though." Sasuke nodded. "Which way is Iruka's classroom?" The little girl thought for a moment and pointed down the hall. "Tha' da way." Sasuke nodded and headed down the other way. 'If Iruka's that way, then Neji must be this direction. The girl said that Neji had gone away from Iruka's class room and hadn't come back yet.' He made it to the end of the hall and opened the door.

"Eh? Oh, hi Sasuke-kun! You're just in time to help Neji-kun and Tenten-chan out!" Sasuke sweat dropped. "She sent me in the wrong direction!"

Lee sweatdropped. "What? Who?"

Sasuke turned around. "Talk to you later, Lee," he said, "I'm looking for Neji."

"Oh! He's with Tenten-chan," Lee said helpfully, "in the last room on the right." Sasuke nodded and dashed down the hallway.

Lee frowned. "Or it could be the left ... or the secret passage behind the flower vase ..." Iruka sweat dropped. "Lee, he's gone."

"Tenten, I don't see it anywhere." The white-eyed boy pulled back from the boxes, resting his hands on his hips, "Let's get back to these boxes."

"Oh ... but it's ... it's special to me," she sobbed, rubbing at the edges of her eyes. Neji flinched. He'd been too nonchalant about something important to her. _'I didn't mean to make her cry.' _"Come on, Tenten, if it means that much to you, I'll keep looking." Tenten just buried her face in her hands and shook. Neji frowned. "Tenten, you don't have to cry ..." When she didn't answer, Neji wondered if he'd hurt her feelings that badly. _'I should probably apologize,'_ he thought, walking over to her and patting her shoulder. "Tente-"

Neji froze in mid-sentence as Tenten's arms wrapped around him, her face falling to his shoulder. "Neji ... I've been acting weird lately, haven't I?" Neji swallowed. "Well--"

"I have. And ... and I think I know why," she confessed, lifting her face up to look at him. "I like you." Neji sighed. "Tenten ... I like you, too. But not _that_ way." he began to slide out of her arms when Tenten cried out, "I love you!"

Neji paused. "Tenten...?" The chocolate-eyed girl blushed. "I've always loved you."

The door opened and Sasuke's eyes widened as Tenten pressed her lips to Neji's. The black-haired Uchiha stood frozen in the doorway as Tenten pressed her lips to an unresponsive, shocked mouth. Tenten backed off, sensing that Neji wasn't about to throw his arms around her and sweep her off her feet into a romantic kiss that would top the charts in romantic-ness ... and because Sasuke looked really, really mad.

"Neji ..." Sasuke's bangs fell into his face, hiding his eyes and his expression, save his mouth. "... all this time ... what ... what am I? What is this? Why ..." Something dropped to the floor and salty water dribbled off the edges of Sasuke's chin. "... why is this ha-happening now?" Neji stepped forwards. '_Sasuke_ ...' He wanted to say something, but with Tenten's kiss his throat had gone dry with bad taste. "Sa... Sasuke, I--"

"You lied," he choked, stepping backwards, then forwards, hissing. "You _lied_ to me." When he looked up, the tears that dribbled over the edge of his eyes reflected blood red as the Shiringan spun. Neji shook his head, his throat finally beginning to work. "It-it wasn't my--I didn't kiss--Sasuke, I don't love her! I only love one person, you!" Sasuke growled, not hearing what Neji said. "You said you loved me. The last person who said that was Itachi, the person who killed my parents!" Neji winced. _'What've I done? Just an afternoon ago, he was pleasantly talking to his brother as if they had been friends for all that time ...'_

"I'm sorry."

Neji and Sasuke turned to Tenten, the soft words momentarily breaking Sasuke's concentration of anger. "I'm sorry," she repeated, staring at Neji with wide eyes, a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I thought ... I thought you ..." The brown-haired girl bowed her head. "I thought you liked me, too." Neji frowned. "Where did you get that idea?"

"A-At the academy ..." She looked up at him with a smile, though tears were gathering at the edges of her eyes. "You don't remember, do you? I guess... I guess it doesn't matter." She turned to Sasuke and bowed her head again. "I was the one who kissed him, he didn't kiss me. I'm sorry for not understanding," she said sincerely, "but I ... I thought that I had a chance ... now ..." She looked up at Sasuke's tears and his startled eyes, and smiled. "... now I guess I'm too late. I'm sorry." She took a box in her hands and left the room. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway until she turned into Iruka's classroom.

Neji turned to Sasuke. The shorter boy slumped back against the wall, letting out a deep breath. Neji slid down next to him, lying his head on the boy's shoulder.

They never spoke when they felt like they didn't need to. Sasuke thought he might ask Neji about it one day. Neji thought he might ask Sasuke, too. One day. But not today. Not now. Now was a time for being together, a time for being themselves again. A time to be.

Love.

Who can explain such a complicated thing with words?

Sasuke leaned his head on Neji's, and the older boy took his hand. Sasuke squeezed back, and Neji let out a sigh. Now was a time for recovery. A time for less **think**ing and more **be**ing.

And neither needed to speak because they knew what the other would say.

And that made it ok.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"Look, they're here!"

And they were. Gaara and Naruto sat atop Taro's head. The curious dragon had followed them along while Aki stayed behind to watch the fortress and Kaiva. Below, about seventy-five jounins and ANBU were traveling in a tight formation towards the snowy regions of the country. Gaara frowned as he took a count. "That's not enough," he hissed, the sand swirling at his feet, "not enough ..." Naruto smiled and put an arm around Gaara's neck.

"There would have been more if you hadn't played with the sand."

"..." Gaara leaned on Naruto's arm. "Too few," he complained again, nuzzling into Naruto's dark blue shirt. They had even dressed up today; Naruto was wearing his dark blue shirt with a bright red swirl on the front and white-gray shorts that reached past his knees, and Gaara was wearing a purple shirt with sleeves over fishnets. Naruto thought the fishnets were silly, but after a few convincing kisses, he didn't complain more. The blonde's sky-blue eyes scanned the formation and smiled.

"They're not in the front."

"Iruka-sensei told them not to be in front," the red head said as he stood on Taro's back, the wind forcing all his hair to the left as a grin crossed his face, "so we can begin to play."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**End**

More to come, I'm just a week away from being done with school! Then we can REALLY move this story along!

Looking forwards to summer!

Replying to Reviews:

**radicaledward723**: Yeah, the fact that no one told them 'don't do this, it's bad' and no one was there to spank their hands or nothin ... yeah, so it's a bit hard to tell what's right and wrong and ok and not. It's all there.

**Burning tree**: Thanks! The whole ... scene ... was ... (blushes) And yes, Sasuke's just an idiot. Tenten was just ooc and forward in this chapter b/c she thought that he liked her, but she's done and will back down. (snarls at weapon-girl)

**Altariel Eldalote**: YAY! I'm on a list somewhere! I got the whole jealousy thing over with quick b/c I can't stand to try and write people like Tenten OOc... it's like shaving her head and calling her the third world king. just don't fit. 0-O... Itachi's getting better, he might get more years back soon ...

**Jasmine Starlight:** Kaka/ita, coming up. Chapters when Kakashi returns from mission ... IF Kakashi returns from mission ...

**Princess Kitana**: Whaaaa! I lied! Not much fighting here, it's in the intro to the next chapter. Return of Taro and Aki in later chapters ... they're still HUGE ...

**Ruby Heart**: Whaaaaa! Get better soon! Don't worry: I dont' like ten.Neji either.

**lady of the myst**: working on the kaka/ita... as per request of you and just about every other chick out there ...

**ranma hibiki**: ...o-O. very happy person, aint'cha?

**DeAtHaNgEL-LaVeNdA:** I knew it was too big, and my separating things got cut out ... whatever. T-T. I'll work hard on the next chapter now.


	19. Numb

**Chapter 19: Numb**

**Chapter 19: Numb**

Yeah! Thanks to all reviewers that kick ass! I'm going like a loco-train! Can anyone tell I'm hyper? ? #o Crz¥!

This is a SHORT chapter, cauz' I'm going to Camp Crystal for a week this Saturday! - In that time, I'll plan for this story, and when I get back, I'll frantically work on it. Please have patience! My summer was decided for me before I could protest or agree ... Gomen!

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

The terrain was rough. First, they had to scale the mountains. They'd lost only one jounin to a pack of huge wild cats, and then they reached the summit. The view was to die for. They could see the entire country, the huge desert, and the hills of snow guarded by fierce winds and freezing temperatures just beyond the edges of the desert. They had been traveling for almost two days straight, with little rest and less sleep before they made it to the bottom of the mountains again and started off into the desert. Kakashi knew that each member of this huge unit specialized in something, and a few of them specialized in similar things; each of them were valuable.

Just hours after they'd made it into the desert, the sand had swallowed three men in quicksand that sunk them faster than lightning. The remaining group tried to tread lightly on the sands, but the desert's calm skies soon turned against them and within thirty minutes they had to stop and lay flat as a massive sandstorm wiped across the desert. Within twenty minutes it subsided, though seven more of their men had been eaten alive by the blood-thirsty sands.

Seeing the snowy white border approaching was relief.

When they first reached the white borders, the number of sighs that went up was slightly surprising; jounin and ANBU were supposed to be able to hide their weariness. However, no one complained or made snide comments as they crossed over from scorching hot to icy cold.

Gai had wondered aloud how the stuff could stay so cold being right next to a desert. It was a question to ponder, to which Tsunade had answered, "this must be the extent of their power." By which everyone knew she meant Naruto and Gaara. To think that they had any control over elements ... was terrifying. To be able to sustain a desert terrain in a peaceful coexistence with a snowy one was unheard of, and every jounin with an ounce of scientific know-how announced that any kind of natural logic wouldn't be useful. The trees might as well burst into flame and bleed metal, they said, for the possibility of a desert existing within even a thousand miles of snow was just about as logical as such an idea.

They had spent only ten minutes traveling through the frozen terrain when a pack of snarling wolves poured out of the trees, out from under the snow, and thrown themselves at the unlucky men at the sides of the group. Most of them were beginning to get tired, and with fatigue came carelessness. Ten men were lost to the starving pack, and within the hour, even Tsunade had aided in staining the snow crimson. Since then, Kakashi and Gai had stuck particularly close to the Hokage, along with some other jounin members. They were slowing as the wind picked up and threatened to turn into a maelstrom within the daylight. Through the wind, a different kind of howl was heard. Kakashi looked up. "Tsunade! Above!"

The entire company heard him and looked up to see an enormous lizard-like form with six feet climbing down through the clouds towards them. Tsunade frowned.

"Don't attack!" she commanded as it got ready to land only a hundred yards away, "Don't provoke it! It might just be passing."

As it came to the ground, they got to see its entire body. From its massive chest to its last set of legs alone rivaled the largest toad that Jiraiya could summon. White spines extruded in pairs down its back down to its tail where the very tip was curved and shone like a blade. Tsunade's eyes widened. _'This is bad,' _she thought, _'I didn't believe things like this existed ... something larger than the summons of the legendary three ...' _She breathed in admiration as it stretched its last and first set of legs almost cat-like and turned its head towards them. Slits of jade opened and shut twice, curiously sniffing in their direction, claws covered in onyx scales crunching white snow as it turned its body towards them. Tsunade tensed as it opened its mouth. It appeared ready to unleash a stream of fire from its mouth, as dragons of legend ...

... and instead they were showered with saliva as a massive spasm shook its frame in a giant sneeze.

The giant brown mass of scales shook its head, slightly ruffled by the sudden sneeze. It let out a short roar that sounded more like the curious bark of a really big dog than the ground-shaking howl of a dragon. Kakashi sweat dropped. _'Is ... is it really a dragon?'_ he thought to himself as it gave the group another curious look and continued to sniff in their direction. Its two sets of hind legs were shifting in the snow, and Tsunade guessed it was getting ready to take flight again. Sure enough, the huge creature turned away from them, uninterested as it crouched back and then with all six of its legs and its tail pushing off against the ground, it slithered back into the clouds as if it were as weightless as one itself. Kakashi marveled at the creature. _'It has to either have a huge amount of chakra to lift itself or it must weigh one-tenth of what it's supposed to at that size.'_ He sighed as it escaped their vision.

ANBU and jounin alike let out a breath of relief. Kakashi and Gai exchanged wide-eyed glances. "That was a big lizard," said Gai. "It was a dragon," guessed Kakashi, "but how did it get that big?"

"Could there be more of them that size?" questioned Asuma, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Maybe bigger?" Murmurs ran through the small crowd. "I wonder where it came from?" asked one ANBU as Tsunade's eyes scanned the place where it had landed. She spun around and shot out her arm.

"**_MOVE!_**"

The four jounin at the very back leapt too late as the giant six-pawed dragon appeared behind them, snapping them like twigs under four of its widespread claws. Jade slits gleamed down at them and it flashed a toothy grin at them as its tail swung behind it, creating a wailing sound that caused many to cringe and hold their ears. It opened its mouth, and Kakashi tied an explosive note to the end of a kunai. Suddenly, the huge creature shut its mouth and looked over and past them, and its mouth formed something that all of them guessed to be a smile.

"Taro-_chaaan_!"

Tsunade felt her blood freeze as the familiar voice rang out over the snow.

Kakashi turned to the source of the voice, looked at the spot where the dragon had been previously. He pulled his headband back. Both his eyes widened. Gai and Asuma and a good number of sharp ANBU members followed his gaze and tensed.

A blonde-crowned teenager was heading their way, a red-haired boy close at his side, arms crossed nonchalantly over his chest. "Taro-chan, they're not for you! Get off of those guys, you're gonna have to take a bath now!" The dragon made an indignant whine, but the blonde's voice was stern as he came closer. "No way, missie! You need to wash those paws now. They're all bloody and icky. We can't leave them that way."

As they stopped, their faces became clear through the snow and wind.

The blonde was 5' 6'', wearing a loose dark-blue T-shirt with a bright red spiral on it and gray shorts that reached his knees. His forearms and calves were all muscle, bone, and sun-kissed skin. He wore blue boots and had no headband, no identifiable silver plate. However, the scars on his cheeks and his sparkling purple-blue eyes would have left an impression on anyone more than a silly piece of metal.

His companion was slightly taller, somewhere between 5' 7'' and the other boy's height, a purple shirt over fishnets that stopped at his elbows and over a sleeveless black vest. He wore black pants that stopped at his ankles and revealed black sandals. What little skin that showed was slightly pale, though by no means a milky white. He also had no headband, but the unsleeping pools of jade shadowed by black and the kanji for love above his left eye would make him hard to soon forget.

_(A/N: I'll find a place to put a picture of them on the 'net.)_

The two boys didn't even look at Tsunade as they jumped into the air over the 'army', and landed in front of the towering form of the black and brown dragon, which was swinging its tail in a protesting pattern. The blonde pointed in one direction and put his other hand on his hip. "You march yourself home, Taro, and don't let me catch you out here again! I'll send Aki out to get you if you do. We're gonna play with these guys now." The dragon whined and the red head uncrossed his arms, making sure that Taro made eye contact with him as he pointed in the same direction as his companion.

"Go. Now."

The towering dragon gave one last whine of protest before it crouched again and shot into the sky, sending a shockwave into the ground as it took off with tremendous force, the bodies of four unlucky jounin shattering and falling into the cracks in the earth. There was some silence as the dragon climbed back into the sky and out of sight.

"Don't worry," came the voice of the blonde, "she won't be coming back." The red head had crossed his arms over his chest again, looking at their numbers impassively.

Kakashi gripped the handle of a kunai.

Gai clenched his fist.

An ANBU member casually shifted his hands to his waist, signaling the other ANBU to prepare a genjutsu or a bunshin.

Naruto stretched his arms over his head and then let them fall down to his sides, flexing his fingers individually before he shut his eyes and breathed in deeply. "Gaa-chan?" The red head opened an eye lazily and the yellow-slitted jade orb rolled towards the other boy. "Hn?"

"How _long_ does it take to kill seventy jounins?"

Tsunade felt ice shoot up and down her spine. Kakashi watched both boys for any sign of hostile motion, but the blonde just stood on one foot, the other, bent at the knee, was tapping the snow in a steady beat.

Gaara's eye shut. "One breath."

_'I could breath in and then out, and within the time it takes, they would be gone.'_

A grin spread over the other boy's face. "But then it isn't any _fun_." Gaara uncrossed his arms. "Then take as long as you want."

They moved in unison, and they moved fast. Naruto's hands spread again, and chakra gathered visibly on his palms. Gaara's eyes shot open and he nodded his head left and right, and through the snow, a wall of sand shot up and over their heads, forming a gigantic dome around them. Naruto's hands slammed into the sand behind him, and red chakra spread through the sand like lightning, and as it passed over, the two molded and formed something solid. The sand stopped before it formed an entire dome, leaving enough of a hole for air to escape and snow to fall through. However, it was the size of a fist.

Gaara and Naruto looked at each other one last time, grins creeping onto their faces, before they charged.

There was no thought, there was only motion. Naruto's body arched in a hungry dance as he leapt along the arch of the dome and landed on the other side. They moved in time with each other, as if in a desperate dance, hands without weapons, without anything but chakra. With a leap, both boys dove head-on at the jounins and ANBU members nearest them. The first time they dove, there wasn't any resistance at all. Heads fell. Hearts were sliced in half. Lungs were slit. Their hands were glowing, creating a second source of light in the dim dome-shaped sand prison. The two boys landed, and ability to move, to do something, _anything_, came back to the Konoha ninjas. Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and six others shifted around Tsunade in a protective circle as the blood-covered teenagers turned for a second lunge.

Ten ANBU members split up and shot at the boys from different angles. Gaara's grin widened as he took the time to make several seals and clasped his hands together. The chakra around him flashed from teal green to yellow to white, and he clapped his hands together.

"_Creeping Snow_–Hand!"

He spun, blurring into a white glow before ten Gaara clones, also glowing white, appeared next to the ANBU still lunging at him. The white glow concentrated to their fists as the ANBU noticed that they were there. Each Gaara slammed their fist into the ANBU, and ten bodies slammed into the thick dome of sand and before they hit the ground, ice had covered their entire bodies.

While Gaara had been making clones, Naruto had been gathering energy into his hands and feet. With a yell, he shot forwards and tore a straight line through the crowd, a wave of red hitting those lucky enough to be on either side of him. Red splattered on Kakashi's jacket, and instead of fear creeping over him, he felt a thrill as the air rushed past his face. Bodies fell like old trees, hollow and unmoving. The copy-eye ninja had seen Gaara's hand movements. With a grunt, he jumped on Asuma's shoulders and clasped his hands together in the same order as Gaara, and he pulled as much chakra out as he could. Blue fire flared up around him, hissing from blue to white as he clapped his hands together.

"_Creeping Snow_–Hand!"

Gaara's eyes flashed as the silver-haired jounin shot at him, the white fire concentrating at his hands. Five feet from the boy, another body wedged between them and Kakashi wrenched his hand away, eyes wide as he jumped away and landed on his feet, shakily staring at the form in front of him.

Itachi stood between him and Gaara.

Gai's eyes widened and he searched around for Naruto. He shouted at Kakashi. "It's a trick! Genjutsu!"

The shiringan turned in Itachi's eyes, and Kakashi felt rooted to the spot as the black-haired boy wove around him and shot at Gai. Tsunade and the others scattered as Itachi's fist slammed into Gai's diaphragm, knocking the air and the life out of him.

The wide-eyed man slammed into the wall and fell to the red snow, and didn't move.

Kakashi turned around and froze.

The genjutsu peeled off of Naruto like ash falling from a phoenix, red fire consuming the image of the older Uchiha and leaving a smiling Naruto where his lover had stood.

He ripped through the air, didn't see Tsunade's astonished face, didn't hear the gasps from everyone else. By the time anyone else could react, Kakashi's hand had ripped through the blonde's chest. Sense returned to him as he felt the warm blood dribble onto his cheek.

No. It wasn't Naruto ...

"Kakashi!"

... the blonde teenager had pulled another in front of him. The blonde-haired jounin fell to the ground, lifeless. Naruto smiled as Kakashi stared at his own hands. "Go to sleep," he insisted as Gaara appeared behind the silver-haired jounin and grabbed his neck, "we'll have fun playing _later_." Kakashi's eyes widened and then he dropped next to Gai, both of their chests falling and rising with breath.

Tsunade looked around her as the two boys dropped his body and turned to the rest of them. There were only fifteen left, including the two on the floor. She felt her chest clench. _'This was foolish,'_ she thought as she dashed at the dome of sand, her hand making a fist as she drew it back and smashed it into the dome wall with all her might, _'We have to draw back.'_

The sand shattered. Gaara and Naruto watched as the men and women left darted in a wide circle around them, and headed back the way they'd come. The blonde and the red head shut their eyes and disappered. Tsunade and several ANBU appeared at Kakashi and Gai's sides with puffs of smoke, and as soon as they were gathered up, disappeared in more smoke. Tsunade noted that Gaara and Naruto had disappered without smoke or sound. Turning her attention back to the two jounin, she put a hand to her chest in habbit, hand gripping fruitlessly for a necklace that wasn't there.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Snow. She'd always loved the snow.

"Taro! Taro-chan, you're all dirty!"

The dragon gave a surprised bark, but then relaxed as it realized who had called. Taro's large, slit-like eyes blinked several times as the scent of blood drifted up to her nose from the small form on the ground.

It was white. Pure. So pretty ...

"Taro-chan, you have to take a bath." Violet eyes blinked up at the towering brown figure that brought its nose to the ground so that she could climb on top of its head. The motion took more out of her than it should have, and she gripped the dragon's scales as a harsh cough brought blood to her already stained lips. The brown-scaled dragon made a concerned rumble in the back of its throat. She patted its head as she scooted up further on the dragon's forehead, wiping the blood from her paling lips. "C-Come on, Taro-chan ... there's water just a bit away from here."

It was white. Pretty. Like the feathers of a bird.

"Taro-chan ... just ... up a bit further ..." her words were spaced out, her breath short.

Like the feathers of an angel.

She scooted over to the horn on the top of Taro's head, hands clasping onto the white spike with little strength. The dragon began to move, carefully balancing the weak girl on her head as she wove through the snow towards the northern most part of the country. Snow tumbled out of the clouds as if an angel had spilled a large bucket full of it. "T-Taro-chan ..." The six-legged dragon paused and lowered its head to the ground. Kaiva slid off her head with a sigh, falling into the snow that coated the ground.

Snow was just frozen rain, wasn't it?

Then maybe ... it wasn't snow.

Because rain isn't rain.

_'Maybe ... snow ...'_

Taro curled her neck around the black-haired girl as she spread her arms up to the sky, violet eyes unblinking as they took in the clouds and the snow that was descending upon her even now as her feet began to numb.

_'... is a collection ...'_

"Taro-chan ..." Taro touched her scaly cheek to Kaiva's head gently, and the smaller being laughed and hugged her. "... you know ... why I'm here?" The big eyes blinked at her, and she smiled, as if to say, _'I don't know either.'_

"I'm sad," Kaiva said as her arms fell to her sides, devoid of feeling or temperature, "but I'm happy, too. Do you ... know why?" Taro opened her mouth and Kaiva laughed as her tongue licked at her bare arms, trying to bring some warmth back into them. "You do wanna know ... Ok ... I'm happy because I had a chance to see ... everything ..." The dragon drew back its tongue with a protestant bark, as if by demanding it, the warmth would come back to Kaiva's body.

Something warm and solid rolled off of her cheek, and froze as it dropped from her face, and became snow.

Because, as everybody knows, snow is just a collection ...

_'... of frozen tears.'_

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Gaara and Naruto stopped. The sound of something falling to the snow echoed in their ears like a gunshot.

A howl that was most definately Taro's rang out over the air, and the two boys appeared at Infinity Fortress, eyes wide and movements jerky.

"Kaiva!"

Gaara sniffed the air, and followed Naruto around the back of the fortress.

"**_Kaiva_**!"

They paused to sniff the air again, the faint scent picking up as they continued to call her name.

"Kaiva! Where are you?"

Taro came into sight. The dragon's dark brown body was wound into a circle around something. Naruto and Gaara slowed to a jog and stopped feet away from Taro's body. Naruto's eyes were wide with realization and disbelief.

"No ..." They climbed over Taro's scales. "We can't be too late! We _can't_ be!"

They slid down, Naruto falling to his knees at the sight of an eagle spread body in the snow.

"Kai ... Kaiva? ..."

Gaara jogged over to her and brought his hand to her neck.

The snow fell and melted on Kaiva's face, turning from ice to snow, and freezing back to ice. Frozen tears gathered on either side of Kaiva's head, like stars against the darkness of her hair.

Gaara jerked his hand away from her neck, eyes shut against the cold and the truth.

Naruto didn't move. He knew. He knew when he saw the black-haired girl lying on her back in the snow.

The red head backed away from her cold body, and fell down next to Naruto, shaking. The blonde wrapped his arms around Gaara's shoulders, bringing the wide-eyed boy's head to his shoulders. Naruto would have said something, except nothing he said would help what they felt. Gaara shut his eyes and shook his head into Naruto's shoulder. "She--"

"Shh ..."

Snow fell onto Naruto's eyelashes as he stared up into the sky, a soft, sad ... knowing ... accepting expression on his face.

"She's crying."

_'But it's a happy sadness ...'_

Gaara's eyes opened, and he looked up into the sky, as if it held the answers for him as well. The jade orbs, glazed with tears, narrowed.

His hand touched the place where Kaiva had once pointed out, and blinked tears away.

"... I know. But it hurts. It hurts so **much** ..."

Naruto nodded.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

END CHAPTER

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Usually, I'd reply to responces here! Wow, can't you tell that I'm STILL hyper after all that? I really liked the way that KAiva died. I'd like a space of silence in memory of her death …

…

…

(insert chirping crickets)

Next chapter? Allow one week for me to be at Camp Crystal (from this Saturday!) and thensome. Remember, I have the rest of this week, but I'll be at the YMCA, also! - Gotta get back in shape. Wow, I'm REALLY happy for some reason, but I'm not smiling on the outside. It's FUN!

… whoo … calming down. Actually, I'm just setting up for another spazz, but it'll pass like gas. Whoot! Or not!

I'll leave you all now before I regain my composure! Weeeeeee!

Sasuke: (stares)

Naruto: And we're letting her use us in her story?

Itachi: I demand immediate removal from this freakish thing.

Kakashi: Is it me!

Itachi: Of course not! (smooches)

Kakashi: (very content) Well, that's all for now! Blue ½ promises to keep planning for the next chapter!


	20. Children's Choices

**Chapter 20: Children's Choices**

Wow, I don't think I made it clear enough that both **GAI** AND **KAKASHI** are still **ALIVE**. Breathing? It's a sign that something's living. Not breathing? A sign that something's very dead. Or somewhat dead.

Sorry for the huge delay, but I had to go to Camp Crystal! It's my last year that I'm able to go, because I'm too old! T-T (sobs)

But it was a great week. My last and final memory was sitting on the back porch, soaked in darkness, as I stared up at the hazy moon that hung in a cloudy navy-blue sky over an inky black lake. The surface of the lake shimmered in the flickering moon light, and I felt so ... ... just ... so good. It's kinda indescribable. Sorta had to be there, that kinda thing.

Wow ... 20 chapters ... and over a hundred reviews ... WELL over a hundred ...

Did you know what you're reading now was actually material for the 12/13th chapter? T-T I like too much detail ... and draging things out ... bad habit ... gomen ...

Anyway, here's to our next chapter! Read on!

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Once they'd reached Konoha, a team of medical ninjas met them at the gate and escorted the wounded to the hospital. Many had either already tended to their wounds or had luckily not been in the path of the two boys, so the group that broke off to head towards the medical facilities was small. Tsunade took Kakashi and Gai to her office to see to them herself, with the aid of Shizune. They quickly assessed the damage and tended to Gai first. Halfway through their procedures, Kakashi's temperature began to drop. Tsunade and Shizune split the work, the Hokage concentrating all her chakra on the silver-haired jounin. Half an hour later, both men were breathing softly, blankets up to their necks, pulses and temperatures normal. All that was left was to bandage up their work. Shizune insisted that the Hokage take a break and leave the left over work to her. Tsunade sighed as she looked out the window. "Shizune?" The black-haired woman looked up from Kakashi's arm. "Hm?"

"How can I do it?"

Shizune dropped her bandaging and looked on with a soft gaze. "How can I beat them? They have to be stopped ... we have to do something about them. They've attacked twice, three times they've attacked a Hokage ... put the village, the villagers, in so much danger ..." She looked at Shizune, and then at the body next to her assitant. "How can I make it stop? I can't very well protect my village if all the soliers I bring back end up like this," she said, voice quivering as her eyes lingered on Kakashi's arm. One of the demons had broken it several times when she wasn't looking, or when she was ... and that scared her.

"Hokage-sama." Tsunade looked up at Shizune's tear-streaked face. "Hokage-sama. What will we tell the village?"

Tsunade looked over Kakashi's body out past the open doors of the balcony of her office that overlooked the heart of the village.

"We can't tell them the truth."

Shizune looked at her lap. "It wouldn't be better to ... The children ... the gennin, those from the Chuunin Exams, they're growing." _'They're becoming stronger. They deserve to know what they could possibly have to face ...'_

Tsunade smiled, looking out onto the village with a trembling smile. "Adults must lie to children to make them feel better. With things about the sun, and the moon, and the earth, and the stars ... you know. We must ... so they don't cry. So we won't cry, too."

Glossy eyes smiled apologetically over the village they ruled. A soft dripping was the only thing that mixed with the faint inhaling and exhaling of two jounins.

"And sometimes, it works."

Shizune watched Tsunade take her place at her desk, and looked down at Kakashi. "You should tell them the truth," she said softly. Tsunade looked at her desk, smacking a tower of papers off the desk. The white sheets fluttered about the room for a moment, just like snow, before falling to the carpet and resting in silence.

"The children don't have to make these choices. What they do doesn't matter."

Shizune looked to Kakashi. "Goodnight, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade continued to look at her desk.

_'But you know it's a lie ... that those children's choices don't matter.'_

"So they will smile." Shizune looked up.

Tears dropped in the place of the papers she'd sent flying as the Hokage smiled hollowly into the darkness.

"We must tell them that everything is all right. We must let the children ... the villagers ... everyone who _doesn't absolutely need to know,_ we must let them know that it will be all right, so they will smile for us. The protectors of this village must bear this burden alone." Shizune took Kakashi in her arms, hoisting him up and heading towards the door. It creaked open, revealing two ANBU members who helped him off her shoulders and onto a waiting stretcher. She looked back into the room before departing with her charge to the hospital. Tsunade fell back into her chair, shutting her eyes, though not to try preventing the tears from rolling down her cheeks as the smile shattered into a soft sobbing.

"So they will smile for us ... and so we will be able to smile, too."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

They had returned. Gaara sat down in the snow, sand rushing up from the ground to create a small chair. A hand lay at his foot, its matching wrist lying several hundred yards away on the other side of the perfect circle of bodies. Naruto was next to him, moving towards the middle of the bodies. The sky-blue eyes looked back and forth between the empty faces and the red stained snow. Gaara could tell without looking that his eyes were asking the same question as Naruto's:

That was _it_?

"Naruto ..." The blonde boy looked up. He turned away from Gaara and cast his gaze on the red frost at his boots. For the first time, it didn't seem right. Something about this much blood ... maybe it was because of the snow ... but for the first time, they could clearly see how much it must have hurt. Naruto's face was downcast and confused, pain laced lightly over his features as he grasped his chest. The red head stood and walked over to stand at his side. Gaara's hands found their way to Naruto's cheeks and forced the blonde to look into his eyes.

"If they weren't ready to die, they shouldn't have attacked."

Naruto's solom face crumbled as a smile broke across his lips and Gaara knew that above them, the clouds themselves were parting as if to mimic him. Sure enough, the sun's warmth lit both their faces. The temporary confusion lifted with the coolness as the sun's rays kissed their skin for the first time that day. The wind picked up, making their hair fall to one side. Naruto's hand fell from Gaara's shoulders and the younger boy laced his arms around the red head's waist.

"You're right. Let's go home. Haku ... and Kaiva ... both of them are waiting for us."

The clouds continued to move apart, giving way to an endless blue sky.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Kakashi blinked his eyes open to see a smiling chuunin sitting next to him, and a dark, lanky man with familiar raven-black hair standing at his side.

"Hey, Kakashi-san. We heard that you were waking up today."

Kakashi smiled. "Thanks. I ... appreciate you coming over. Iruka, Itachi." The two men nodded, and the former moved back to let Itachi get closer to the silver-haired man. Black eyes searched a single, half-lidded orb, traveling over to glance at the other shut, scarred eye.

"You came back."

Kakashi nodded.

Itachi felt a smile tug at his lips.

Iruka shut his eyes, a happy sigh escaping him as he fell back against his chair.

In that moment, things were better, and the three men in the room smiled as if there was nothing to worry on.

Of course, a moment is but a moment, and time must flow on. The smiles faded as Itachi sat down, eyes cast on Kakashi's wounds; Iruka felt a familiar tug in the back of his mind as his irises swirled to bright blue and the silence became unbearably heavy on their shoulders. Kakashi sat up a bit in his bed. He looked at Itachi. "How much do you remember?" The black-eyed man jumped a little, and then faced Kakashi. "Almost all of it." Itachi shut his eyes and when he opened them again, they were flooding with a blood-like hue. His pupils shuddered, then three tiny spines appeared from the blackness and began to swirl.

Kakashi braced himself and then fell into a world of Itachi's memories. In a single instant, he was shown as much of Itachi's life as the other man could recall. Images of a loving father and mother flashed for a while, then a familiar boy with spiky black hair similar to Itachi's began to appear in the images. Kakashi recgonized himself. He watched as he and Itachi grew up, and then together. Naruto and Sasuke were prominent in the memories, as well as his family and himself.

Suddenly, things went dark.

Voices shouted out around him, for help, for mercy, _why had he done it? What have you done!_

"Done what? What have I done? Answer me!" A younger Itachi, maybe sixteen, maybe eighteen, maybe somewhere in between, was standing next to Kakashi, staring at the darkness with the same fear and confusion. He didn't seem to notice the older man, and continued to question the unheeding darkness. "What have I done? What did I do?" He stepped back, and stepped in a bright red puddle.

Kakashi felt his stomach twist as Itachi looked down to see himself standing in a pool of his mother's blood.

The younger boy fell to his knees and yelled. The darkness shattered like a window pane, revealing a dark, starless night in which he was standing behind an 8-year-old Sasuke amidst a street full of blood, littered with bodies that bore the Uchiha symbol. Sasuke's eyes were tear-streaked, and Itachi himself stood next to Kakashi, staring across the street at the man who wore his face and hissed at his little brother.

"_Grow to **hate** me!_"

Itachi's eyes widened. "No ..."

The silver-haired jounin activated his own Shiringan, and the illusion covering the other Itachi began to unwravel. Pale skin, shadowed by silky, raven black hair ...

...and suddenly Kakashi was tumbling down the rabbit hole again, thrown from one memory to the next, before the face was fully revealed.

This time he stopped in a grassy field under a midnight sky. A crescent moon gleaned down at him from the glittering sky. A sound met his ears, and he felt a chill run down his spine as the memory-Itachi dashed _through _him and hid in the grass. Kakashi followed his line of site and watched with wide eyes as a red-headed boy tore through another boy of his age with blonde hair. The blonde fell to the ground with a grin on his face as red chakra began to swirl around the wounds.

'_Naruto,'_ realized Kakashi as the blood stopped and the skin began to close. '_And Gaara. They're so young ...'_

Kakashi blinked as the memories faded away into a cave, where the two demons were standing in the middle of the cavern. Itachi was standing on the side lines, watching as the two were made honorary members of the Akatsuki. His eyes widened as he fully took in the situation. _'The Akatsuki ... they're members ... at this age!'_ Just as the picture fully cleared, it shattered and began to swirl into another image.

There were four of them; Naruto, Gaara, Itachi, and this time a boy with long, black hair and a pale complexion that reminded Kakashi of snow. The latter was jogging past what Kakashi recognized as himself, Asuma, and Gai. This was the Chuunin Exams. He himself knew this memory. The pale boy smiled and waved at Kakashi before he, along with the rest of the memory, shattered into a thousand shards of glass. Kakashi watched them swirl around to form another memory.

Haku was resting in Itachi's arms as the last bit of life faded from his body and Kakashi watched him go limp in the other boy's arms. Across from them, Gaara and Naruto were staring at the snow-colored boy's face in disbelief. A familiar scent filled the air. Kakashi couldn't tear his gaze away from the boy's body.

_'Death.'_

The blonde was shaking his head, and his yell tore through the illusion.

Itachi broke his gaze from Kakashi's, ending the onslaught of images. Kakashi blinked his eyes for a while to get used to the bright dullness of the hospital lights. Only a second had passed between them, and yet it seemed to be more. For a brief moment, Kakashi wished that he could also share his memories with Itachi.

"Itachi-nii ..." The two men looked over at the other occupant of the room, the one they'd almost forgotten was there. "Are you better now?" Iruka's eyes were blue again.

"We'll come and see you again, if you want."

Itachi sat on the bed, staring at Iruka's irises for a while as he contemplated the idea. Kakashi moved towards the chuunin, as if to grab him, but then stopped as Iruka backed away from him, face blank as he faced Itachi, waiting for an answer. Finally, Itachi shook his head. "No. I don't want you to come see me ..." Kakashi let out a sigh of relief.

"... I'll come to you."

Iruka's face brightened. Kakashi jumped up and grabbed Iruka's shoulders. "What do they want? What's going on?" By the time he was done shouting, the blue had already begun to fade away from Iruka's eyes. "Answer me! What's going on with those two?"

When he realized that he was actually talking to Iruka again, he calmed down and let go, apologizing for handling the chuunin roughly. Iruka looked up at him, though, with a half-lidded gaze. "What is going to happen between the two of them? Who knows? Only time will tell. They are both two wild cards no one can really control or predict." Kakashi looked at him.

"Oh? Did they want you to tell us something?"

_'They leave a trail of bread crumbs for us to follow. And every time, just like fat, greedy little idiotic birds, we gobble them down as quickly as we can and end up at the cat's mouth,' _Kakashi thought bitterly. _'The first clue is always from Iruka.'_

"Tsunade-sama will already be at work," Iruka said with a mysterious smile, "the first thing that must be done is being set in order." Kakashi frowned. "Iruka, make more sense!"

"She'll call on you soon," Iruka argued, completely ignoring Kakashi's remark, "the second thing that must be done, however, is being undone by your students."

Kakashi frowned. "What?"

The chuunin looked at Itachi with a smile. "It can't be stopped by Kakashi. You'll know what to do."

"Me?"

"Yes ..."

Iruka smiled and let his mind wander, unaware of Kakashi's concerned voice, which quickly turned to horror for some reason. Iruka laughed inside his head as he shut his eyes and fell backwards into the darkness that always came after talking with Naruto and Gaara.

_'Oh dear. Well, at least things will begin to come together.'_

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Tsunade looked at those that stood before her.

Those that had been children for shorter a time than should be allowed. Those that had been forced to grow into a world at war, into a world where your life was a tool, a thing with a price that could be bought or crushed with little more than a few pieces of paper with numbers on them. Those that had become hardened by time, by experience. The loss of friends, the discovery of death, the transformation from child to tool within the first twelve years of life ...

Those children stood before her now, six years later, with faces that resembled cold stone.

Tsunade folded her hands together on her desk. Nine pairs of eyes, unwavering in their gazes, stared back at her.

"All of you wish to become ANBU?"

There was a collective 'hai,' from every mouth.

Three teams stood before her, faces set and fists clenched at their sides. Tsunade let out a sigh.

"You realize that all of you must take an exam ... which has a passing percentage equivalent to less than an **eight** of the percentage of your gennin qualification test."

Again, she was met with the collective murmur of 'hai'. Tsunade sighed. None of them would change their minds on their decision. Each of them had a reason for wanting what they were here for. Every child ... no ... every person before her had a need so great they were willing to become part of a killing squad that took out ninjas by the scores. They knew this. They knew what becoming an ANBU meant, she'd put it in black and white not twenty seconds ago. She'd told them that if they passed, they would immeditally be included in the next mission, no matter what rank it was. And still they stood.

"Fine." She stood from her desk abruptly, missing the eyes that widened at her sudden consent. "It seems to me that the children of Konoha can no longer be swayed to inaction by an old woman's lies." She refused to look at those gathered in her room. Gennin they were, but with the abilities of jounins. She could no longer lie to those that were not children and expect them to believe her.

"I can no longer tell you lies and expect you to go along with them," she confessed with a sad smile. The room shifted uneasily at her voice.

"Tsunade-sama ..."

The blonde princess shook her head. She turned around and pulled out nine sheets of paper. "These are the instructions. Follow them, read them thoroughly, and be good shinobi." Her voice would not shake, would not break, not now ... "Be prepared to preform whatever your proctors instruct you to do." Nine heads bobbed in acceptance as they came up one by one to select a sheet of paper. The nine bowed, murmuring their thanks in a robotic tone, and then turned and filed out of the room. Tsunade looked at their backs as they went. Even the shyest of them was walking with grim determination, nothing but cold steel showing on her features.

Tsunade slumped to her desk, wondering if there would **be** any children left at the end of the year.

Outside, nine gennin, nine friends, three teams ... all stopped once they were outside the building ... to look up into the sky. A gray cloud covered everything as far as they could see, and somewhat beyond. A storm was coming to Konoha.

"Let's go home," suggested a usually quiet member of team eight. The rest of them nodded their consent, and they went their separate ways to different shelters.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Whew! Done with another chapter ... wow. I didn't realize how long my chapters are. Sorry for dragging things out, but I like to go into detail ... bad habit ... anyway, I saw **_Howl's Moving Castle_**! OH MY GO-, it was so AWESOME! SQUEE! And I saw **_March of the Penguins_**. You need to see that if you love penguins, or if you want to see beautiful arctic sculptures of natures' design. It's so beautiful.

Back to me. 20 whole chapters! Yay!

Now, some reviews I need to respond to!

_**Response to Reviews:**_

**Uke Love:** Sorry! I know tis long, but I'm glad that you like it. I don't mean for them to seem mean ... they just have an easy time killing things because they never found out what was 'right and wrong' by human standards. But Naruto experienced a bit of pain after really looking at what they'd done. They're not what we call 'heartless' because they don't know.

**Occisor/Eld:** I think I love you.

**Princess Kitana:** We won't reveal why she died. The necklace? We'll have to wait and see ... oop. I think you've already guessed half of what happens ...

**Jasmine Starlight:** Who's not coming back? There will be more in-depth stuff later, I had to post this or I'd be without posts for 2 weeks straight. And I'm gonna be at College for Kids soon.

**DeathAngel-Lavenda:** I take pride in my ability to turn dropping dead into a long, slightly wistful experience. Words are mine forte, along with ink.

**TFI-Muse:** Both of those questions have been answered above.

**RubyHeart:** I did have fun!

Now, onto some practical questions to ponder while I go and swim:

**1) **Is Iruka ok? Will keeping a link with the two 'demons' keep having harmful effects? And what did his last message mean?

**2)** Will I introduce any new OCs? Will they die as quickly as the last one?

**3) **Will putting up a Harry Potter fic complicate my life more than it already is? Will you read it if I put it up for previewing? Will you flame?

**4)** Why am I writing a story about mostly gay couples? Will there be any straight couples soon? If so, who?

Now, note that I said to PONDER them. In other words, THINK ABOUT THEM. Please don't guess. Your puny minds will never be able to correctly grasp the answers.

Hahahaha. I joke.

Go read FLCL, find a bucket of yeast, and return for the next chapter before the moon turns orange.

blue 1/2

xxfissshbonesssxx


	21. DoubleSided Blades

**Chapter 21: Double-Sided Blades**

Yay! Chapter 21! It took forever ... but it's here. It's been so long since I updated ... but no use complaining now. Do I do a good job with descriptions? I have a hard time judging my own work, seeing as I can't ask any of my family to judge. (or else I get _weird_ questions ...)

Also, beware in this chapter of Neji/Sasu smut, Gaara and Naruto discussing a serious issue, and music-influenced work.

**ATTENTION. ATTENTION. **

I have a question for everyone, but before I pose it, consider the massive amount of detail I went into the chuunin exams.

Should I elaborate on the ANBU exam like I did the chuunin exams?

**Thanks for your attention. Back to the fic.**

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**'ANBU EXAMINATION'**

Sasuke looked at the paper on the table before him.

'**Exam will be held between the 10th and the 12th. Examinees are to arrive promptly at 12:00 AM on the 10th.'**

There was less than a month to prepare ... to train ... to do what little he could to ready himself for whatever they would throw at him. There had been rumors about the ANBU exams since the days of their childhood. Things from a lot-drawing to a battle royale had been suspected and dismissed. No one really talked about the exam. The ANBU members themselves didn't associate with anyone but the jounins and the Hokage, and didn't let on that they _were_ ANBU when they were in the village. Sasuke looked up for a moment at the wall across from him. Sasuke wasn't staying at his house tonight. He was staying with Neji at the Hyuuga Main house. He and Hinata had invited him to stay so much that the servants had dedicated a room just to Sasuke that no one else ever used. The Uchiha looked back at the paper.

'**Bring whatever weapons you feel you are suited to, as many as you like. Weapons are not required, but they are also not provided. However, weapons of a disqualified or deceased examinee are fair game.'**

That was comforting.

'**The exam will be further elaborated upon on site. At 12:01 AM, the proctors will no longer allow examinees to register.'**

The door slid open. "Sasuke, are you still looking at that piece of paper?"

Sasuke looked up. Neji leaned in the doorway, one hand on the sliding door, the other dangling at his side. "You can't still be looking at that. It's been _hours_ since we received those. Kiba has already dragged Shino and Ino off to train, and Sakura just stopped by to look for you." Sasuke nodded, eyeing his boyfriend with half-lidded eyes. The other teenager stayed in the doorway, eyes on the black-haired Uchiha. "So ... how's Itachi-san doing?"

Sasuke shrugged. "He's getting better. I haven't ..." Sasuke drew back into the couch slightly. "... I haven't checked in on him lately."

Neji shook his head. "Let's go some time before the exam," he suggested, turning to leave. A voice called to him from inside the room.

"Come here."

The white-eyed boy turned around and cocked an eyebrow, shutting the door behind him. "And what's in it for me if I do?" he asked, amused, though already making his way slowly over to the black couch on which his boyfriend lounged. Obsidian depths offered him no answer as Sasuke watched the white-eyed boy approach.

"Come here ... and I'll show you."

**WARNING: shameless smut beyond this point. And I don't write smut that well. ;-; T-T oh well. you may skip it if you wish. It is Neji/Sasu. WARNING**

A corner of Sasuke's mouth slowly rose towards his ear in a half-smirk. Curious, Neji returned the smirk and lowered himself onto the seated Uchiha's lap, silvery-white irises sliding over the hands that rose to meet the skin of his arms. A hungry mouth opened and met equally eager lips. Neji leaned into the kiss as Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, twirling an index finger loosely through the white ribbon that rested half-way down the brown-haired boy's back. Sasuke wound the ribbon around his finger twice and gave a tug, causing the loosely tied strands to fall freely over the back of the other boy's shirt. Neji broke off the kiss and frowned as the Uchiha brought the ribbon between them, twirling it on a finger.

"I like your hair when it's down," he said as an excuse, looking at his boyfriend's mock-scowl with a knowing glance.

Neji didn't reply, but took the ribbon from Sasuke's hand with his teeth, letting his tongue flick out and taste the tip of the offending index finger as he passed it. Sasuke shivered and Neji yelped as he was pushed back onto the large black couch, Sasuke's hands sinking deep into the couch on either side of his head and Sasuke's legs straddling his lower stomach. He winced as he realized that his pants were getting uncomfortably tight. Neji had to bite his lower lip as the other boy attacked his neck. Every time the other boy's lips met Neji's skin, the pinned boy couldn't help gasping at the sensations that rushed under his skin. A hand tugged at his collar, exposing more of his silky smooth skin.

"Sasuke ..." The black-haired boy didn't hear him at first, too busy trying to cover every inch of Neji's neck with his mouth, one section at a time. "Sasuke," Neji panted, a little more loudly, again with no response as Sasuke continued working his way across the top of Neji's collarbone. He was rudely interrupted when Neji gave a jerk and sent them tumbling off the couch, into the table, and finally crashing onto the floor with a wide-eyed Uchiha pinned beneath him.

"Sasuke," Neji panted as he felt heat consume his face, "you're driving me _crazy_ ..."

Sasuke's eyes widened again as Neji leaned against his body and revealed the source of his frustration, and he groaned as the material constricting him grew tight as well. "Neji ... Neji, get off me for a minute," Sasuke commanded between quick breaths. Neji growled, almost primal in his state of arousal, but managed to get off the other boy long enough for Sasuke to rid himself and Neji of their pants. As the cool air rushed against the bare skin of his legs, Neji felt some sense leak back into his brain. Semi self-conscious, even with his boxers still on, he drew his legs toward his chest as Sasuke sat up and shamelessly let his eyes wander over the other boy's exposed skin, pale almost akin to his own.

"Don't do that," he said softly, reaching out and pushing the other boy's knees down. Neji flushed but spoke with a quiet calm. "You're rather cool about this. You ever jerked off another guy before?"

"You're my first," Sasuke replied, unknowingly knocking the breath from the other boy. Sasuke moved forwards and straddled his knees, hands resting on the elastic band of a pair of white boxers. He rose an eyebrow. "Why does your underwear match your eyes?" he mumbled to himself curiously as he gripped the edges with two fingers and tugged gently. Suddenly he was stopped, and a pair of pale hands grabbed his own. The eyebrow rose questioningly again, this time confusion flickering across Sasuke's unusually readable visage.

"Having second thoughts?" asked Sasuke softly, a pained hitch in his voice.

Neji shook his head quickly. "Not at all," he said, "it's just that ..." Sasuke blinked as Neji's eyes narrowed slightly, " ... I was wondering ... why you should get to lead."

The black-haired Uchiha stared ahead at the other boy, struck dumb for a response. Neji's hands released Sasuke's and slid to his waist. "I think that I should get the pleasure of helping you out with this," Neji suggested, hand brushing against Sasuke's tented boxers and leaning forwards to whisper into Sasuke's lips, "I _am_ older than you."

Sasuke mumbled something that sounded like, 'talk too much,' and stopped the whispering by pressing their mouthes together, muffling any further reasoning. Neji groaned in frustration and pleasure as Sasuke pushed him backwards, fingers still resting at the band around his boyfriend's lower waist. An idea crept into Neji's mind, and suddenly Sasuke found no resistance as his hands brushed against new skin. "That argument went over fast," Sasuke mused as Neji shut his eyes and leaned back onto the floor, hips jerking into Sasuke's touch. Neji gasped and felt himself harden considerably in Sasuke's hand.

"Well, I figured--since you're so--aah! ... _insistent ..._ on leading now, you can--_nnnh_ ... be on the bottom later."

Sasuke squeaked and his hand squeezed in surprise. "Sorry," apologized Sasuke quickly. Neji shook his head, fighting to keep a calm voice as Sasuke stroked him.

"Just shut up and **_DO_** something about this!"

Neji shuddered as Sasuke took the order to heart. The Hyuuga leaned back onto the floor, his hair falling back onto the floor. The black-haired Uchiha moved his hand again, Neji gasping and gripping at Sasuke's spare hand. "Ahhn ... _Sasuke_ ..." Sasuke flushed; hearing Neji call his name in that tone sent heat racing to his face. The heat rushed to the rest of his body, and he bet that he was as hard as Neji as the other boy bit his lip and tried to keep his trembling hips from bucking up into Sasuke's hand. Neji gasped and began to cut off the circulation to Sasuke's wrist as he came closer and closer, the black-haired boy watching Neji pant under his ministrations with something like jealousy and pleasure. The Hyuuga looked beautiful on the floor with his hair like a dark halo behind his head, panting and hard beneath him, because of him. He met Neji's panting mouth with a hot tongue as his hand moved faster, and Neji groaned into Sasuke's mouth, allowing the other boy to dominate the kiss fully. Neji felt pressure building inside him with every stroke, and suddenly it was gone, and all over Sasuke's hand. Sasuke's chest met his own and his full body weight splayed out over Neji's. The pale hand slipped out of Neji's boxers, covered for the most part in Neji's seed.

**End of smutty scene.**

Sasuke wrapped a clean hand in Neji's hair and let his head fall onto Neji's shoulder. Neji focused on breathing. They remained in their position for a good while before Sasuke rolled off the other boy's slowly cooling skin. "Neji ..." Sasuke inched his shoulder over in order to be within reach of Neji's forehead, which he tapped with his own. White eyes stared sideways across the floor and into his own. "Hn?"

"I love you."

Neji blinked several times and then a crooked smile broke out over his face. "You loser. I knew that."

Sasuke chuckled. "Just making sure."

Neji rolled over onto Sasuke's chest, lying his cheek to Sasuke's collarbone. Sasuke twirled the handful of hair he'd been holding, creating a terrible knot. "Hey," piped Neji, "Don't do that ..." Sasuke refused to release the lock of hair, and Neji gave a suffering sigh as Sasuke attempted to undo the knot with only one hand. Neji frowned and the corner of his eye twitched. "Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"You better be able to get that knot out." Sasuke sensed a mild threat in Neji's tone, and continued to work on the tangle of hair, though a little more seriously. He shifted under Neji's weight, and then decided that it was all but impossible with only one hand. "Hey, get up." When the other boy obliged, Sasuke got to his feet and headed towards the bathroom of his room. Neij sat on the floor as Sasuke washed his hands, and then got to his feet and followed the other boy into the bathroom. Sasuke looked up from his hands in surprise. "Wanna use the toilet?"

"I want to take a shower," Neji said, brushing past Sasuke into the shower stall and turning the knobs in the shower on to hot and hot. He jumped when Sasuke pulled back the shower curtains and slipped in, shutting them behind him.

"What are you doing?" asked Neji through clenched teeth as Sasuke moved to touch his shoulders. Sasuke met his gaze and put his arms on the other boy's neck. "I'm not done with your hair, yet." Neji blinked and nodded, turning his back to the other boy. "Fine," he grumbled, jerking out of Sasuke's hold, "but don't touch me." Sasuke rose an eyebrow, wondering what he'd done to deserve the attitude ... and then it clicked.

"You that mad about me getting you off first?"

Neji blushed all the way to the roots of his hair, though Sasuke could only see his back. He shook his head to clear his face, and tried to focus on cleaning himself. "No, I'm not mad, I'm ..." He trailed off and then returned his attention to his body. Sasuke waited silently for the truth, patiently undoing the tangles he'd created in Neji's silky hair. Suds covered Neji's chest and then slid down his body with the water and what little whiteness had escaped Sasuke's hand. Neji felt heat rise back to his face and quickly banished it. The water fell against his body, warm and relaxing, and Sasuke's hands finished with his hair and moved on to his shoulders. Neji didn't resist as the black-haired Uchiha massaged his shoulders, strong fingers working the length of his back. "Sasuke, didn't I ask you not to touch me?"

"Sure, but you're tense. Let me just work your back, and then I'm done. Promise." Neji nodded, trying to stay frustrated at the other boy; but as Sasuke's hands ran over his back, fingers skillfully kneading the tenseness out of his shoulders and lower back, it was a task that seemed all but impossible.

"Yes," Neji said finally as Sasuke's hands stopped moving on his back. "Hm? Yes what?" Neji sighed as he grabbed the knobs and turned the water off. "Yes, I'm mad at you." Sasuke smirked. "Knew it."The brown-haired Hyuuga snorted and yanked the shower curtains back.

Sasuke blinked and stared back at the wide sea-green orbs that stared at them. Neji stood paralyzed, next to Sasuke, both of them wet and completely naked.

Sakura fell onto the tile floor, blood streaming from her nose.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Within the walls of Infinity Fortress, four figures worked, combining genjutsu with traps and winding hallways with illusions and mind-bending path divisions that led in circles and back again. The blonde, clad in a blue T-shirt featuring a red spiral in the center of the front and a pair of tan shorts that reached his knees, was busy re-organizing the first and second floors to whatever he wanted them to be. The red head, (whose hair resembles the color of blood more than carrots) clad in a dark red long-sleeved turtleneck and black baggy pants, worked the third and fifth floors by himself in a similar fashion. The other two figures, one a badger with silvery-gray fur and the other a dragon with brown scales that resembled the earth, were busy pushing large objects into place, and then popping in on the first five levels to distract the two boys from their work.

Since the fight between the two boys and the small troupe of Konoha warriors, Aki and Taro had shrunk back to their original sizes, Aki's head standing at Gaara's waist and the length of Taro's body was just above where the red head could reach without lifting his feat from the ground (and without the sand).

Naruto and Gaara lived day by day. Immediately after they returned and discovered the change in Aki and Taro's sizes, they wanted to find Kiiva a proper resting place. They knew that Kiiva would enjoy sleeping somewhere near the fortress, because that was where they met her. Behind the massive walls, just a little ways into the forest, they found a secluded ring of trees that opened up to the sky, and knew with a slight sting that she would have loved it. Knowing that Haku and Itachi would have scolded them for their gloominess, they went about returning her to the earth with as little sorrow as possible. Still, Naruto couldn't help breaking into loud sobs as Taro nudged the dirt over her still body. Gaara let Naruto bury his head in his chest, and shut his eyes against the cold, two tears of his own landing on the blonde's shuddering shoulders.

It snowed hard that day, rained in the night, but the next morning there was a rainbow sitting over the fortress and both the blonde and the red head put their tears behind them.

Pushing death from their minds, the two boys turned renovating the fortress into a race: who would fix up the most effective traps the quickest? The task was bigger than moving the fortress itself, and was taking several days. The two boys had worked from the top down, and were close to finishing.

When the sun finally managed to sit itself at the very highest point of the day, time seemed to stand still. Gaara and Naruto finished whatever they were working on, Aki and Taro slinking from their tasks without any verbal command. Purpose seemed to slip from their actions, and they gathered in the room at the very top of the fortress. A large square room greeted them and offered a small pool at it center, a large bed that would fit three in the south corner, a kitchen-like corner facing the west, and an empty bookshelf to the east.

Naruto looked up at Gaara. "You know what?" Gaara looked up, jade eyes slightly curious. "They'll be back."

"They who?"

"You know," said the blonde with a smile, "the people that have Itachi-nii."

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly. "Naruto ... about them ..." Naruto sat up. There was something serious in Gaara's voice ... something was wrong. Aki and Taro glanced at each other and then lazily made their way over to the small pool in the center of the room, putting them far enough away so that the other two would have a little privacy.

Naruto turned to confront the other teenager as soon as they were 'alone.' "What's wrong?" Gaara put his hands in his lap, looking very much like he'd stolen the last cookie from the jar and was trying to hide the fact that he wanted another. Naruto looked over Gaara's body. There was so much he could tell without saying anything that it might have seemed like he was psychic. The way Gaara refused to meet his eyes meant that he had been hiding it, and was guilty about having brought it up so late with his closest friend, someone, the **only** one, that he considered much more than a friend. Gaara's hands folded into his lap, showing his nervousness. Naruto cocked his head to the side and wondered if Gaara could tell the same things about him. '_Probably_.'

"Probably what?" Gaara's curious question jerked Naruto into realizing that while he'd been so intent on reading the other boy like a book, Gaara had been trying to work up to telling him something. A blush covered Naruto's face from pure embarrassment. "Gomen ne ..."

"It's ok." Naruto nodded, his gaze meeting the red head's. "Now tell Naruto what's wrong." Gaara nodded, unfolding his hands from his lap.

"Whenever we see them ... there's something inside of me ... not Shukaku," he said sadly as Naruto looked suddenly hopeful. Both boys missed their demon's presences, although they didn't leave their bodies, there was something hollow inside their minds and hearts. Some part of them that the demon had occupied had filled them with a warmth that they couldn't replace. "It's not him," said Gaara softly, sadly.

"What is it?"

"Something ..." Gaara paused for a moment, searching for a proper description of the feeling. "It's kind of like the feeling that we had when we went to Suna-village, to kill those kids."

Naruto nodded, suddenly understanding. It had been cemented in his brain, and his heart. The cold, calculating chill that seemed to fill his lungs, that choked the air from his throat. Feeling the warm blood of something so innocent, so pure, dashed upon the claws that had easily ripped their earthly bodies to shreds had sunk deep into his soul. He had been half weakened and half excited from the feeling--the feeling of absolute power. It was like a drug, tearing through his senses, adrenaline pumping through his blood, sending his heart beating a million miles a minute. The blonde's mouth fell half-open, caught up in the pure sensation of a memory; the feelings so real that the hue of his eyes took on a resemblance to the blood he'd spilled--

"Naruto!"

Suddenly the feeling cracked, and Naruto felt as if something solid was falling away from him, some kind of terrible shell that he had to shed. He was breathing hard, and Gaara was much closer than he had been a moment ago. "Gaara? What happened ..."

Gaara's hand was wrapped in Naruto's own, claws sliding against the pale skin like knives kissing his skin, but the red head had held on tight. Naruto's eyes returned to their blue-purple color, and he gasped as the red head finally showed a sign of pain, flinching as Naruto felt the warm blood dribble down his hand. "Gaara!" He grabbed up the other boy's hand quickly. "Gaara, Gaara, you're hurt, you're hurt--" Naruto looked at his hands. "Gaara ... I ... I didn't mean ..." Gaara shook his head.

"This is what I wanted to talk about." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Every time I see them ..." A pair of silver-white eyes.

"Every time I see that symbol ..." A leaf on a silver plate, just above blood-red irises that aroused the sleeping desire for bloodshed in his chest ...

"Every time I see it, I feel that way," Gaara said, bringing Naruto's claws to his chest, "Every time we fight, I think I can't hold it back anymore, but I do ..." Naruto watched Gaara clutch at his hand, helpless to do anything at all. Even breathing seemed impossible. They shared the same pain ... they shared the same love and hate of Konoha's people ... It was all he could do to hold their heads together and sigh softly.

"I don't know, Gaa-chan," he muttered into the red head's hair, "I don't know."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**I had more, but I haven't updated in so long that I thought you'd need this. -; ... **

Anyway, I have to work on next chapter! I'm also working on my Avatar fic again! My artwork can be found at Distant Horizons under 'fanart' by Blue 1/2! - Thanks so much for reading! Now, to respond to reviews:

Golden Warrior12: Oooh, thanks for the compliments! I really wanted to keep Diana's kids, cauz I had plans for the sequ-- er, I mean, I had plans for them in the future ... Anyway, I 'm glad that you appreciate what I do in my story.

JakotsuGlomper: Yes, I try to be as original as possible. Actually, this story plot is over 2 years old; I started it in 8th and now I'm in 10th ... It just took so long to develop. Naruto's personality was hard to develop, and I'm just kind of going with the flow now ... ;-; PS: I am an author: on FF.N. --

Blackangeltwin1: Ask and you shall receive.

Ruby Heart: SasuNeji? Here you go. My internet messes up occasionally, but that's no reason for me to stop working on mah story! -

Altariel Eldalote: I do believe that I shall have to steal you away, in retaliation to what you have done; for it seems you have stolen my heart.

EVERY time you leave a review, I find the strength to demolish the writers block that plagues me at every chapter. It seems that for some time now I have written each new chapter for you, and several selected few, including _Ruby Heart_, _Death-Angel Lavenda_, _Jasmine Starlight_, and _Princess Kitana_. For the five of you, I bequeath each and every chapter with what heartfelt words I can muster.

Kaiva's last thoughts are my own, the ones that I thought as I left Michigan in tears, never to see snow again. I live in a snow-less place now. I hate the heat. :( But it's true, isn't it? Snow is just frozen tears ...

Tsunade's monologue was long. Took me a while to write. The gaa/naru conversation was really long before I took a look at it and said 'I don't need 457 of these words ...' and chopped it down to about 100 or so. The HP fic? It's been in process for over a year, and I've got all of 3 chapters. I've been researching, planning, calculating, and researching all over again because it's so complex. I can post a first chapter, but if people (espically you) want to read more, what more will I have to offer? I wanted to develop it a bit more before I leaked it out for experimentation ... The Half Blood Prince (snape) is awesome. The book sucked ass-phalt.

For some reason it's easier to write about the feelings between two people of the same gender. o-o why is this, someone TELL me! I've tried girl+boy but it don't work ... maybe I have to fall in love first? o-O I have vol. 1 of FLCL, planning to buy vol. 2 soon. I really will have to locate you in reality and make you mine, you realize--

... (stares at own words)

(lots of the fancy words I've said is influence from MeruPuri ... T-T sorry.)

You're awesome. Awesome.

Devilz-Fallen: As they say, ask and you shall receive; you asked for another chapter and here it is. -

Uke Love: Sorry for making you all wait so long. T-T I'll work on the next chapter really hard!

DeathAngel-Lavenda: Mystery? Yes, that was what I was aiming for. --

Princess Kitana:Haha! You were right! - The memory thing took a while, thanks for your compliment. I might reveal why she died, but I might not. Depends on how much she'll weigh in on the story. I mean, it does seem that lots of people close to them die ... and who's the only other person they consider close? Oops, can't give too much away ...

Jasmine Starlight: Thanks for reviewing! I always love it when people say hi! -

Thanks again, everyone, for inspiring me to chapter 21! Hope things go well and chapter 22 is up sooner than this was! -


	22. As It Should Be

**Chapter 22: As It Should Be**

Wow. THIS chapter was hard to write. Thanks for waiting for me ... I've been off living. In the real world. I think it's starting to grow on me. ¬-¬ Y'know ... this stuff was my material for the 15th chapter ... it's kinda crazy how off-track I go with some of these chapters. Oh well.

Response to reviews at bottom, as always,

I don't own Naruto, or Gaara, or Naruto, or anyone ... I owned Kaiva, but she's dead ... (sobs) ...

This is a shonen-ai/slash/yaoi story, with other pairings ... including GaaNaru, NejiSasu, KakaIta main pairs, LeeSaku, ShikaChou, and HinaKiba secondary pairings ...

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Clouds drifted over the village, the sun flickering in and out of view every so often. A pair of sea-green eyes smiled at the sky.

_'Monday, all right! Today's the day! Today's the day!' _

_Dressed in the loudest orange jumpsuit he possessed, (though they were **all** loud) the blonde bounced up and down the streets, creating a ruckus among the younger Konoha villagers. A crowd of girls passed after a boy clad in blue with a fan on his back. One girl broke off from the crowd as she spotted the blonde and ran over and gave him a shove. _

_'Hey! What are you shouting about today?' _

_The blonde laughed, familiar with the force and the yell and rolled with it until he had turned around again to face his pink-haired companion. 'Ha ha! You're just in time! Today's the day!'_

_'What do you mean?'_

_A pair of blue eyes blinked, as if the answer to the question should've been obvious to everyone._

_'Today, ramen's half-off!' _

The idiot was always going on about ramen, whether it was half-off day or not. Soft sea-green blinked. _'Hm ... why am I thinking about that now?'_ As if to answer her question, the sun was suddenly hidden behind a passing cloud, but only for a moment, a flicker between the sun's heat and cool shade. The cloud passed and the sun remained as bright. A smile spread across her lips.

_'It's probably because of the sky ... this is what the sky always looked like when he was talking about ramen.'_

That's what he'd be thinking about.

Lounging on a black couch, the pink-haired girl's arms resting on either side of her as she stared out the door across from her.

"Sakura?"

"You're sure you're ok?"

Two concerned voices called out to her. Sakura looked away from the door, eyes sliding over to the fully-clothed Neji and Sasuke, both of whom were looking pointidly at her, and not at each other as they voiced their concern. They were leaning up against the wall opposite of where she sat. "You fell on the tile floor, after all--"

Sakura sighed. "Yes, I'm fine. What kind of ninja would I be if I was killed by a floor?" The two boys had the courtesy to look a little ashamed at their concern over such a trivial fall, but Neji insisted on making sure she was ok, since technically it had been the sight of the them that had caused her injury in the first place.

"At least let Hinata-san look at you before you go?" he asked a little helplessly. Sakura grinned, sticking her tongue out childishly.

"Sure, sure, if it'll make you feel better."

Neji let out a breath. "It would; thanks Sakura."

Standing, Sakura exited the room through the door, then turned around and stared at both boys. For no reason at all, they both found themselves flushing and looking at their feet. The pink-haired girl felt her grin get wider, and she tapped her fingers on the door as she made her way towards Hinata's room.

Some time after she had left, Neji sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. "That ... was kind of weird." Sasuke nodded. "Why is Sakura over here anyway?" he wondered aloud. Neji shrugged. "Perhaps Hinata will know."

The black-haired Uchiha walked back over to the piece of paper that had been knocked off the table. He stooped to pick it up, and then turned back to Neji. The white-eyed boy automatically crossed his arms over his chest as Sasuke came closer, deep black eyes enjoying the other boy's pouty posture. "Oi, Sasuke ..." The black-haired boy just stepped forwards, placing his hands on Neji's hips and kissed him. Neji's arms slipped apart and wrapped around Sasuke's waist, pulling him closer. Lips parted and a tongue dipped into a warm mouth, just to taste, and Neji gasped at the electric sensation that shot through him. The other teen pressed their bodies against the wall. Not in lust - - in an effort to become closer to Neji's body ... in order to feel what he did to the other boy. Neji's skin was warm against his own, the fabric of their shirts and pants cool from lack of wearing them for the past few events in which nothing of the sort had been a necessity. Sasuke smirked against Neji's lips.

Neji broke away, slightly annoyed at Sasuke's intentions, but otherwise happy at being kissed. He kissed Sasuke's cheek before pushing him off gently and walking to the door, Sasuke pocketing the piece of paper. "You gonna stop by Hinata's room?" Neji nodded as he opened the door, letting Sasuke out after him and then shutting the door.

"And where are you going?" Neji asked.

"See Itachi and Iruka," Sasuke murmured as Neji wandered off in the opposite direction deeper into the Hyuuga's giant estate. Sasuke looked over his shoulder and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

A purple-clad teenager made his way to the office door of the Hokage, his green-eyed companion a step behind him. The two ANBU guards parted, allowing them to pass. Tsunade met them as they walked into the room.

"Finally ... you've made it, Kazekage-sama."

Sora's emerald eyes were hardened but not unfriendly as she smiled. "Please, Hokage-sama, call me Sora. The title just doesn't suit me in this time."

Tsunade laughed. "I know what you mean." Kankuro turned to leave, his task of escorting the Kazekage to Konoha done, but Tsunade called him back. "Wait, Kankuro. I'd like you to stay for this ... I wanted to speak with you also, Kankuro. Go outside and tell the ANBU that I said it's time." Kankuro nodded, and followed her instructions before shutting the doors behind him and returning to the middle of the room where her desk sat. Tsunade sighed and then laughed weakly.

"Did you know the last teenagers to storm in here all demanded to become members of the ANBU?" Sora's eyes widened but she said nothing. Tsunade laughed. "I'm getting weak." Sora flinched. "Tsunade ..." The princess put a hand to her forehead, looking up at the ceiling. "I couldn't refuse them. The exam's going to be held soon."

Although she felt sympathy for the other Kage, Sora had to press Tsunade to business.

"I didn't come to talk about exams, Tsunade."

"I know. I know."

The doors opened and a blonde kunoichi entered the room.

"Thank you for coming, Tenmari."

Kankuro looked up as she took the seat next to him, looking gravely at the walls instead of at him or Tsunade or Sora. The two Kages faced each other, pretenses dropped. Suddenly Kankuro had the feeling that something very heavy was about to be said. Eyes narrowing, he mentally braced himself for whatever he might have to hear. But no amount of mental preperation could stop the next few minutes of conversation from piercing his heart over and over.

"I didn't get to cover something with you in the last meeting ... and I know this isn't the easiest subject for you to speak about, but you must tell me exactly what happened the night Diana was killed." Kankuro's eyes widened as Sora nodded, eyes set and throat tight.

"I was alone. I'd just finished filing out the paperwork for our peace treaty. Tenmari and Kankuro were leaving to see my sister and her kids. Then, I looked up and there were two teenage boys in front of me. One was a blonde with spiked hair, and the other had red hair." Sora's words slowed in an effort to keep her voice from cracking. "They dropped a bloody kunai on my desk and said, 'Come and find us if you want revenge.' And then they were gone."

Tenmari's hands were clenched in her lap. Kankuro shut his own eyes. He remembered what had happened while Sora was being confronted.

"Tenmari came in ..."

She would not break. Diana had been strong, and she wouldn't want her sister to be weak now. "... her entire left hand was bloody ..."

Tsunade nodded. "Yes."

Sora's voice struggled to remain strong. "I-I ... I found Kankuro with my sister ..."

The green eyes squinted. She would not break now.

"... he and Tenmari had opened the door and ..."

She would not break. She was the Kazekage. She was strong.

"... and ..."

She would not break. Not now.

Tsunade shut her eyes.

Tenmari took it upon herself to explain the condition in which they'd found Rui and Hari, as well as Diana. The blonde relayed how when they arrived at the room they had heard no noise, so they had slowly crept in as if the room's occupants were sleeping. Then they saw the blood all over the floor. Tenmari continued, reliving the experience without a hint of emotion. How Kankuro had knelt at Diana's body and disbelievingly held the empty shell of a person to his chest as she fled the room. She kept her face as straight as stone throughout, Kankuro shutting his eyes against the images that Tenmari described to Tsunade. The fifth kept her eyes shut until Tenmari finished, and looked up to find tears rolling down her face, though her expression was still stone-cold.

"That's all," Tenmari whispered before she too broke into silent sobs next to the Kazekage.

Tsunade waited. Once the shaking had calmed, she broke the silence.

"I need you to do two more things for me, Sora." The green-eyed kazekage was still gathering herself. "Sora, please, I need you to be strong. I have uncovered the location of their hiding place, and I'm preparing to send another wave of ANBU and Jounin to confront them. The reason behind this meeting was to ask you personally for assistance. It will take our combined forces to defeat these two."

Sora's eyes flashed. "You have my troops, Tsunade," she said a little quickly, "how soon will they move?"

The Hokage shook her head. "Don't think that we're coming along," she said firmly, "I too experienced death of those close to me at the hands of these two. You and I would be blinded by rage the moment we saw them, and we might do something reckless." Sora shook, this time with anger and helplessness.

"But ..." she protested weakly, although she knew that Tsunade was right.

Seeing that Sora understood, Tsunade dropped her authorative tone, knowing her next request would be the hardest she'd ever had to make of the Kazekage.

"Sora."

The green-eyed girl flinched.

"You know the last thing I'm going to ask you to do for me."

"I can do it, Hokage-sama," whispered Tenmari softly. "Tenmari," began Sora softly, but the blonde shook her head. "I didn't want to believe it, either ..." Kankuro frowned as Tenmari turned to him.

Kankuro had always know his older sister to be blunt. When they were children, she'd been the one that had to give him 'the talk', and it had taken her all of six minutes to completely destroy his idea of how people were born. He remembered being furious at storks for a while after that. Tenmari had never truly mastered the art of subtlety. She'd had some on missions or when she really needed to, but here, showing her raw emotion, true nature exposed, the words hit him like a brick wall.

"The names of the two that killed Diana and the twins are Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku Gaara."

Kankuro's eyes widened.

"Our little brother."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

(A/N: lots of flashbacks again ...)

A gloved hand rose up to carass his cheek. Kakashi laughed weekly.

"I guess I wasn't thinking," he muttered to himself. He pushed the door open with his other hand and looked at the two beds with a tired gaze. Itachi had returned to the world of continuous dreams, and Iruka had almost accompanied him. The two bodies lay still on white hospital sheets, and except for the gentle rise and fall of their chests to signify their breathing, they appeared to all the world to be dead.

** Flashback **

_"Imoto!"_

_There was a clatter as the black-haired doctor dropped his clip board at the sound of his name. Kakashi walked up to him in the hallway of the hospital. "Dr. Takadachi Imoto ... you're overseeing Umino Iruka and Uchiha Itachi's recovery, aren't you?" Imoto nodded. "Why don't you do yourself a favor and place them in the same room? It'd make it easier for you to cover their cases simultaneously." _

_The chuunin frowned. "I don't believe that would be practical, Hatake-san. I'm going to have to decline your request." _

_Kakashi couldn't hide the slight glint of anger in his eye. Dr. Imoto, being a medically inclined ninja, picked up on it and frowned. "Hatake-san, I realize that you're close to both of these patients, but I don't believe I need to crowd them together in the same room. It's much easier to examine them in their current state in separate rooms. While having them together might seem more efficient, what would happen if they both decided to have some kind of drop in their conditions? It'd be catastrophic. We wouldn't be able to move them out fast enough." _

_Kakashi's gaze faltered, and Imoto felt a wave of guilt. The hard-worn jounin actually looked a little lost, something the doctor wasn't used to seeing on any jounin's face. Pushing past the silver-haired man, he picked up the clipboard that he'd dropped and flipped through it, attempting to seem nonchalant about the matter. He sighed and gave Kakashi one more glance over the top of his clipboard. _

_"I do have one room on the sixth floor open ..." Kakashi's ears perked up. "... it's a bit roomy, and it's usually for recuperating teams, but seeing as that we haven't been that busy lately ... I suppose I could get them transferred there."_

_Silence filled the hallway, and Kakashi turned away from the black-haired man._

_"... sorry for yelling--"_

_"Don't be," Imoto said suddenly, cutting off the jounin's reply, "I'm not dim, Hatake-san. I've been with you when you visit those two." _

_Kakashi's eye widened. _

_"You're very fond of the both of them, aren't you?" _

_Kakashi paused, not replying but not leaving either. A smile spread across the doctor's face. "It's good, you know ... to have precious people to protect, in these times." The silver haired jounin chose to remain silent, but stuffed his hands in his pockets as he began to walk away. Dr. Takadachi Imoto smiled._

_"I'm going to talk with some of my colleagues and Umino-kun and Uchiha-kun will have the same room by tomorrow morning. I'll see you around."_

** End Flashback **

The Hokage herself had been alerted to Iruka's condition and came in to personally examine him before she was to hold a meeting with the Kazekage. Kakashi remembered her face when he told her that it had been right after another episode of communicating with Gaara and Naruto that the school teacher had collapsed. Tsunade worked furiously to finally come to the conclusion that she herself had no idea how Naruto and Gaara could speak '_through'_ Iruka to them. She could only guess that it had something to do with his eyes, which was what Kakashi had already figured anyways. After the procedure, Iruka was returned to a new room, where Itachi was being re-stationed at.

Tsunade came in to help, and at that time Kakashi asked if this would continue to happen if Iruka kept in touch with the two demons. To the surprise of every nurse and doctor within eyesight, the _patient, _who had previously been unconscious, had slapped him across the face.

The silver-haired jounin recalled Tsunade staring at Iruka in awe and confusion, along with the entire medical staff.

** Flashback **

_The blonde princess wrung her hands on a white towel. There had been no blood involved in her investigation, there hadn't been a need to go inside Iruka's body to look for anything. The surface of his body told her that the chuunin was in perfect physical condition, heart rate, blood pressure, pulse, breathing, muscle movements ... everything was in perfect working order. She wouldn't be surprised if he turned over at any time and decided to wake up. There was one part of his brain that was behaving oddly, but it would be too soon to know if it was connected to Iruka's recent condition or if it was another abnormality. She hoped against the world that she wouldn't have to operate on the school teacher. Her hands began to shake. 'The blood ... I couldn't take the blood ...' Immeditally an image of Konohamaru flashed across her mind. Suddenly the breath refused to come into her lungs. Something cold and red slowly gripped at her chest, inside her chest, spreading throughout her interior like a disease. _

_"Tsunade-sama? The patient is stable, and everything's done. Tsunade-sama?"_

_Shaking, the hands clasped around the towel slowly loosened. The young brown-haired nurse looked at the Hokage in concern._

_"Tsunade-sama? Are you all right?"_

_"Yes ... yes, I'm all right, Hana. Thanks for worrying about me ..."_

_Tsunade's eyes smiled at the brown-haired girl._

_' ... if you hadn't, I might have lost myself in the past again.' _

_The aspiring young nurse blushed and nodded before rushing out the door. Five seconds later she rushed back in, handing Tsunade Iruka's charts, and rushed out again a shade brighter than before. Kakashi made his way into the room as she rushed past him. Tsunade rose an eyebrow. "What did you do to the ANBU I had stationed outside the door?" _

_Kakashi shrugged. "Genjutsu. It'll wear off once I leave." _

_Tsunade shook her head, a smile crossing her face. "Fine. But this is the last time I'll let you come into a medical facility without permission from a doctor. I don't want you to abuse your status anymore. Just because you're a Jounin doesn't mean you're allowed everywhere." The silver-haired jounin nodded his consent and then at the patient. Tsunade didn't say anything at first, and Kakashi felt a pang of worry. 'Watch the body for movement.' It was slow, but finally Iruka's chest rose and fell. _

_Breathing. A sure sign of life. _

_Or if nothing else, a sign that they weren't dead. _

_Being alive and not being dead were different, Kakashi had realized that when Itachi had first returned to him. He wasn't alive, but he wasn't dead. The important thing was that he wasn't **dead** ... just in a coma ... but for a few dangerous moments, he'd forgotten the difference between the two. Kakashi took a breath, remembering the feeling of emptiness that had threatened to flood his being after those first few seconds. Breathing. He hadn't known the value of that slight motion before, he hadn't truly appreciated the way the chest seemed to swell with the tiniest sign of not-death as breath filled the lungs, and then rushed out again. _

_Up and down. Breathe._

_"So, is there anything we can do to cut the connection?" _

_Tsunade shook her head, the smile fading from her visage. "I'm not sure about the nature of the connection itself; all I know is that every time it's used they're draining him, whether they realize it or not may determine if Iruka will die." _

_Kakashi's eye widened. _

_Tsunade's eyes widened too, but her gaze was set not on Kakashi but on the bed behind him--Iruka was moving, turning over as if just waking up from a good night's sleep. She brushed past the stunned jounin and watched Iruka blink his eyes open. The chuunin groaned a little before attempting to speak. "Ts'nade?" Tsunade nodded. "Yes ..." The blonde princess gave the two doctors to the right of the bed a questioning glance, but recieved an equally confused shrug. 'I was sure that he'd been totally drained of chakra and energy,' Tsunade thought to herself as Iruka blinked to get used to the new light, 'and I was sure that by totally draining himself, he'd fall into a coma like Itachi ... But he looks fine now ... did I really miscalculate that badly?' Behind her, Kakashi's hands were balling into shaky fists. Not again. He would not stand idle while he waited for another precious person to pull out of what was Naruto and Gaara's fault. _

_"There's nothing you can do?"_

_"I already told you, Kakashi, since I don't know the true nature of Iruka's condition, no, there's nothing I can do!"_

_"There must be something ..." Iruka looked up, slightly listening, slightly not, to the silver-haired jounin as Kakashi's reasoning brought him to a single conclusion: the monsters that were causing the damage must be eliminated. _

_"What about the two demons?" Tsunade froze, recalling the last time that they'd attempted to kill Naruto and Gaara. "Kakashi ..." _

_He didn't hear her. "Maybe if we kill the monsters, these kind of things will stop happening." _

_Now Iruka was wide awake, and staring at the jounin with a new kind of look in his eye. He struggled to his feet silently behind Tsunade's turned back as she watched Kakashi's reason and sensibility deteriorate. "What if they die? All that has to be done is to kill them, isn't it? If the connection can be broken, then all this will stop. If they're **destroyed**--"_

_Tsunade's eyes widened as a palm connected with a masked cheek, the crack echoing in the sterilyzed room. _

_Iruka's breath was short, and the heat from his eyes seemed to sear Kakashi's stinging cheek. His heart pounded in his ears, blood rushing furiously through the raised vein running across the arm in the air. The jounin couldn't even bring himself to move his head as the school teacher glowered at him. The brown-haired shinobi hissed at Kakashi through clenched teeth._

_"Don't ever ... EVER ... address them as if they're monsters ... **ever** again."_

_When Kakashi finally found enough strength to turn and face the teacher, he received another shock. Iruka's deep brown eyes were roaring with a deep passion, the hot flames of rage licking the edges of Iruka's irises. Kakashi had never seen such fire in the chuunin's eyes before. But then again, human's hearts burned brightest when they were defending those that they loved. He knew the feeling. _

_"Iruka!" _

_The school teacher turned on the Hokage, the fire still burning defiantly in his eyes, challenging even her. The blonde princess rose an eyebrow, as if intimidated for a moment, and then smiled. _

_"Iruka. Welcome back. How are you feeling?" _

_The chuunin didn't answer right away; instead he breathed deeply, as if being that angry had been draining for him. Eventually he looked up at Tsunade with a weary smile._

_"Ok, I suppose. A little achy, but otherwise I'm fine."_

_Tsunade's smile widened. "Good. I'm going to do a few quick tests to see if you're as good as you say, ok?" _

_Iruka nodded. "I don't see why not." _

_He didn't look at Kakashi as he went to stand at Tsunade's side. The jounin held his cheek a moment more then disappeared._

** End Flashback **

Tsunade assured Kakashi later that Itachi's condition was stable and Iruka was now simply sleeping, and both were likely to waken before the next ANBU exams, which was little less than a month away. _'The exams ...' _Kakashi looked at Itachi's bed with a half-smile under his mask. _'Wonder who'll pass.'_

"Kakashi?"

The silver-haired jounin jerked, looking up into Sasuke's concerned eyes. The gennin shut the door behind him, glancing at the two beds before sitting next to his teacher. Kakashi sighed, looking at the floor.

"What's up?" Sasuke asked, curious about his sensei's moody appearance, "Fight with Itachi?"

The jounin laughed. "Not quite."

Sasuke nodded. "Well, then what happened?"

"... Iruka slapped me."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and then he smirked. "Heh. What'd you do to deserve it?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, sure, Iruka's just the one to have violent urges like that for no reason. What did you say to him?" Kakashi flinched at Sasuke's strict tone. His student stared him down until he gave way. "I told him that Naruto and Gaara were monsters."

Sasuke's eyes widened. His gaze raced to the floor. "Aa."

The silver-haired jounin mentally thanked Sasuke for not pushing the issue, knowing that the black-haired teen was still struggling over his own internal views on the two boys. For a while, he was allowed more silence with the addition of Sasuke's presence, and then Sasuke spoke again.

"Do you think they're monsters?"

"No."

Sasuke's brow furrowed in thought during another breath of silence, and then began verbally pummeling his teacher. "Why not? They killed the Hokage, they've killed Konohamaru and Moegi and Udon, and probably others. And they've done it just for attention." His tone was clear, unhindered by accusing or skeptical tones. As a true shinobi, he was emotionlessly stating facts. "They've made several attempts to take the Fifth's life, they've teamed up with the Akatsuki, and from what I've heard they've been _destroyed_ by them, too." The Uchiha's eyes were eating away at Kakashi's posture, observing every inch of reaction his words evoked from his jounin sensei who had been in so many more encounters with the two than him. "They took out an entire jounin and ANBU war cell, by themselves, they **stole** the Fifth's most treasured necklace. They **blinded** Neji ..." Here he paused, as if to remind himself that personal crimes weren't crimes against the state, but then argued that they were still crimes, and continued. " ... doesn't any of those things make them even a little bit deserving of punishment in the slightest way?"

Kakashi shut both his eyes. And Sasuke was content to wait for his sensei's answer.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Shikamaru sat in front of the Hokage's desk, the shadow-user lounging lazily all over his chair.

"I need you to become Jounin or ANBU."

Shikamaru scoffed. "I bet I know why."

Tsunade rose an eyebrow, pretending to be slightly surprised. _'I'll bet you do,'_ she grumbled in her head,_ 'and that's why I didn't want to tell you this ... I'm going to sound like such a bitch.' _

"You want me to go with you on your next 'big secret mission'. I bet you'll want Chouji to go along as well." Tsunade decided to play the innocent card. "Oh? But why would I insist on Chouji going? No offense, but I personally don't think that he'd be of any use." The Nara's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Because you know that I'd go along just to make sure nothing happened to him," Shikamaru said through clenched teeth. Sometimes this woman really ticked him off.

The Hokage nodded. "Sadly, that's about it. If Chouji didn't go, then you'd refuse the mission. If I can make sure that he's going too, then you'll come along for sure." Shikamaru nodded, refusing to show his rage at the situation. "I understand, Hokage-sama," he said coldly, standing, "I will apply for the ANBU exams. I assume they're taking place some time soon, within two weeks now?" Tsunade nodded. "Sharp," she said as she slid a slip of paper across the desk to him. He took it and then Tsunade felt herself freeze, Shikamaru's shadow hand creeping up her neck slowly.

"You know what ..." Shikamaru trailed off as he stood to leave, his shadow and hers still connected, " ... it's a good thing that Chouji believes in you so much ..."

The shadow crunched around her neck, and for a brief moment Tsunade was consumed by fear. Then she was dropped unceremoniously on her rump as Shikamaru's shadow slunk to the open door where Chouji stood, glaring at her breathless form.

" ... or I'd have to kill you where you are."

Still furious, Shikamaru fled the door way before he did something more rash than what he'd just attempted. Tsunade rubbed her neck and looked at Chouji apologetically. "Chouji-kun ..."

"I know," he said softly, "but it's not the only way."

She waited until the last of his footsteps were a memory before she let herself realize there were tears on her cheeks.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

In lieu of having nothing else to do, Hinata insisted on treating Sakura to ice cream. When Sakura had gone to Hinata, the only thing she'd said was that she'd fainted. Hinata had checked her over and then dragged her off the Hyuuga estate to the nearest soft-serve joint and demanded (as well as Hinata can demand) that she sit while she got them a sundae to split. Highly amused, Sakura sat in the blue booth, letting Hinata pay and even bring the entire thing over herself; spoons, napkins, and ice cream all at once.

It was after they'd taken off the first layer of whipped cream that Hinata asked how Sakura had fainted.

"You really want to know?"

"Y-Yes, I do. After all, it's not every day t-that someone faints around the Hyuuga estate ..."

"Well, let me tell you ..." Sakura leaned over the table and put her hands to Hinata's ear and whispered into it. The purple-haired girl blinked and then fell back in her seat, beet-red.

"Oh my ... was Neji really--"

"Yes! And Sasuke-kun, too, both of them ..."

"I'm glad that ... you didn't fall on anything b-but the floor," Hinata said, still blushing, "It'd be terrible if you'd fallen and ... and b-broken something." Sakura giggled. "I don't think they'll ever leave the door unlocked when they're 'busy' again," she predicted, "I must be the only person in the entire village who'll ever get to see that again." Hinata felt what little blood that had started to leave her cheeks rush back and Sakura laughed as Hinata buried her face in her hands.

"Sakura-chan? Hinata-kun?" The sound of Lee's voice, even two tables down, made Sakura and Hinata look up. Seeing that his assumption had been correct, Lee jumped up enthusiastically and headed toward their table. "Ah, it is you! How are you both today?" Sakura scooted over, patting the seat next to her. Lee grinned and sat down beside her. "Gai-sensei said that he will let all of us train in our own ways for the ANBU exams, and I intend to pass because of my own new training!" Hinata smiled. "That's w-wonderful, Lee-kun! It's great to know that you've g-got your own style now." Sakura put her elbow on the table, a grin spreading across her face as she poked at Lee's hair with her other hand.

"So now that you've got your own style, does that mean you'll dump the 'do?"

Lee blushed slightly as Sakura laughed, Hinata giggling behind a hand. "I thought you liked my hair, Sakura-chan! It's the splitting image of Gai-sensei's!" Sakura nodded. "I know. I don't mind it the way it is now, silly," she said, leaning over and kissing the side of his head. Lee flushed darker this time, and jumped up to go get some more napkins. Hinata and Sakura looked at each other and giggled.

When Lee sat back down, the two girls resumed eating their ice cream, and Lee began to talk.

The words were hardly registered by the purple-haired girl as she shut her eyes. It didn't even need to make sense ... everything that she heard now made perfect sense.

The way that Sakura teased Lee ... the way that their spoons slid against the ice cream ... the laughter that came from even her as Lee ended up with a spoonful of strawberry ice cream on his forehead ...

The sounds of life passed through her senses.

The sound of people walking outside the store ... of birds flitting overhead ... the sound of a dog barking from down an alley ... and the ring of the bell on the door as it swung open to admit another customer into its shop.

Yes. Everything was as it should be.

Hinata looked up as two familiar forms passed in front of the window; she waved happily at the pair as the shadow user and his boyfriend passed the shop. Her hand slowed and then fell back to the table. The look in Shikamaru's eyes as he'd passed ... the heaviness to his footsteps ... and the startling sound of water hitting the cement on a cloudless day ...

Lee laughed, and Sakura thanked Hinata for the ice cream. She wanted to go catch up with Ino before the exams, and so Hinata waved goodbye. The door opened, and a gust of cool air poured into the shop ... Sakura's footsteps echoed with Lee's as they made their way towards the Yamanaka flower shop ... the bell on the door rang again as it shut against its wooden frame, and Hinata felt a sigh escape her.

Everything was as it should be.

Wasn't it?

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**Preview**:

... ... ... ... Things progress with Kakashi and Itachi ... ... ... ...

It was 1:00 AM, the 8th of November. There were now 47 hours left to the ANBU exams.

"Kakashi?"

The silver-haired man looked up at the sound of Itachi's voice. "Mmm?"

"Come here,"

... ... ... ... Then, trouble in paradise with Neji and Sasuke ... ... ... ...

"So, you think that because I spent a night with you that I'm going to commit my entire life to you? Please! I've got more important things to do..."

"Who the hell are you! You can't be Sasuke, goddamnit!"

The grin on Sasuke's face only spread at the sight of irrationality spreading across the Hyuuga's usually calm face. _'Excellent this will be easier than I thought.'_

... ... ... ... and that's all I have for now.

**End Preview (for now)**

Well, you'll have to wait again. Sorry ... I hate doing this, but I don't have lots of fire these days. I write in bursts.

I'm also getting pulled into writing one of the stories that I dropped a while back. I burned on with it and then suddenly it fell, and now I'm just noticing the edges are really pretty, so I'm stopping to dust it off and such ... and I'll be back soon.

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**Responding to reviews ...**

**SensiblyTainted:** Well, well! Praise, what I love and thrive on. Please do continue to review. Concerning your views, rebuilding is good, however we're going to wait and not jump several chapters ahead. I'll let you decide whether or not the story ends happily or sadly, because there are just two possible endings I'll let this story have because of my attachment to the characters. Unfortunately, I'm not confident enough to write GaaNaru in what I view as non-smutty. T-T Thanks for reviewing, I'll keep your critique in mind!

Windchaser90: I can't tell you what happens in the end, but I'll tell you that they're like this in the first place because everyone they get close to (but Itachi) gets killed off. Wouldn't that make you a little weird?

**Ruby-sama aura-chan the neko-jin's yami: ** Firstly, wow, whatta name. Secondly, sorry that I'm confusing. Please keep reading! -

**Altariel Eldalote:** My favorite reviewer ... no offence to anyone else! But it'd be kinda hard to kidnap you, seeing as you live in Sweeden and I in Florida. Your posts truly do inspire me to continue writing. Thanks for all your compliments and thanks also for the lovely letter I recieved! I hope you got mine in return. If nothing else, I hope you get this update. Info on my HP story can be found in my **UPDATED PROFILE**. ( --notice this here in bold? check it out for story info and possible new stories) I think I did a pretty good job on doing another SakuLee scene, and it's funny to know that you're bi, 'cauz I am too ... haha ... I know FLCL, my friend's a freak for it ... Haru must have scattered his brains last time she slammed that guitar into his head ...

Anyway, I think I'll have to go with you on this and skip out on analyzing the exam. There are, however, certain parts that I cannot omit. It involves Iruka's prophicizing, and therefore must take place. Or whatever.

And I love Sakura. Such good timing.

See you later, Jojo,

--blue 1/2

**TFI-Muse**: (jumps) WHOA! I live. I've been gone like a month now. Please don't maul me. And go find the rest of the losers who were reading this and tell them to come flame me, 'cause I miss them all.

Jasmine Starlight: Yes, Neji/Sasu in this chapter, yummy kaka/ita to come in the next, and after that more gaa/naru, possibly in the next chapter too ... What's this thanks for? What words have I bequeath-ed upon you? And what foolishness to think that you haven't been properly appreciated for your reviews in the past. Please, stay and review again! Tell me what you think of this chapter.

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As you see, I have a personal relation ship with ALL my reviewers, even more so if you give me your address (see jojo's response). Anyway, gotta go, it's 9:45 PM and I have a Driver's Ed test tomorrow. Ciao!

**_- - blue 1/2_** (aka: the exhausted one)


	23. Balancing Act

**Chapter 23: Balancing Act**

**!WARNING: **the very first scene is the kinda scene that makes this an 'M' rated fic. Thanks for your 'tention, you've been warned. :**WARNING!**

I feel very sad. at least 27 people have this story on their alert list, yet I get about 5 reviews per chapter. It makes me very depressed. (pouts and sits in a corner)

(from the dejected corner:)

it gets sorta hard to read, I'm sorry. I'm going back over the previous chapters and spiffing them up. Sorry for the terribly long wait. I'm not dead. I think ... (sniffs) please read the review responses at the bottom of the page for clues as to what happens later. right ... no one cares ... (sniffs again)

thankx to voldemorntfollower for beta-ing part of this! i got a semi-beta ... i'm so happy ...

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

(_yo, PLEASE read the warning)_

The days between then and the exams were slow. True to Tsunade's prediction, both Iruka and Itachi woke well before the exams, an entire three days prior. Hana ran tests on both patents to discover that they were in working order with no side effects. Itachi revealed to Tsunade that all of his memories had returned, and as soon as his first visitors stepped through the door, he clammed up and said nothing. Iruka didn't; he greeted Sasuke and Kakashi with warm words, happy to see them both well and alive. Kakashi couldn't meet his gaze, recalling their last conversation. Iruka seemed to have either forgotten it or forgiven him for it already. The brown-eyed chuunin and Sasuke spoke mostly, and Kakashi left before his student, unaware of Itachi's gaze on his back.

Some time around lunch, Itachi started speaking, though only when he was alone with Sasuke and Iruka. Kakashi returned in the dead of night to pick up the copy of Icha Icha Paradise he'd left beside Itachi's bed, only to have the older Uchiha grab onto his vest and hold him there. "Train Sasuke," Itachi said softly, before letting go. Kakashi nodded faintly, and the disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Lee, Neji, Sasuke, Shino, and Kiba had buried them selves in their training during those days. It was all Kakashi could do to spar with Sasuke, wear the boy down, and then drag him to the hospital so that he'd talk to his brother. Sasuke would last perhaps for half an hour after their most rigorous spars before he passed out on the spot.

Today, Kakashi had been extra hard in his sparring, and didn't let up until around midnight. The younger Uchiha was so caught up in his efforts to over come his teacher in a battle that he put up a fight when Kakashi backed off. The Jounin nearly knocked him out before Sasuke gave into fatigue and fell to his knees in the dirt, asking if Kakashi would take him to the hospital to talk with Itachi. Kakashi obliged very happily, dragging the seventeen year old to the hospital only half-awake. They came into Itachi's room, the jounin all but grinning and his student about asleep on his feet. Sasuke lasted ten minutes before he collapsed on his brother's shoulder, out like a light. As Kakashi put him on the bed with Iruka in it, he noticed the clock.

It was 1:00 AM, the 8th of November. There were 47 hours left to the ANBU exams.

"Kakashi?"

The silver-haired man looked up at the sound of Itachi's voice. "Mmm?"

"Come here," he commanded, scooting to the back of his bed. Kakashi rose an eyebrow but complied, sitting on the edge of Itachi's bed with his feet still on the floor. The black-haired Uchiha was fully clothed, no longer in the hospital blue-white clothing but in the traditional Uchiha garb of a blue shirt donning the Uchiha fan on the back and gray pants. The bed sheets were folded up on the table beside his bed, and the pillows were behind his back. He and Iruka were free to go tomorrow night at 6. The onyx-eyed man was currently studying the linen sheets, unable to recall why he'd asked Kakashi over. Kakashi didn't seem to be looking for a reason, and so he figured it didn't matter.

Itachi grabbed the edge of Kakashi's sleeve and tugged it closer to him, urging the other man to close the distance between them. Silently, Kakashi placed both hands on the bed and moved his feet onto the bed, so they were now sitting side to side against the pillows. Itachi leaned his head on Kakashi's shoulder, and the silver-haired man put his head on top of Itachi's.

"Hey." Kakashi took the Uchiha's hand. "How's your head?"

"A little numb," Itachi said softly, "Don't talk."

Kakashi didn't reply, but began to analyze Itachi's hand. The smooth pale skin reminded him of the Uchiha he'd tutored for four years. '_Sasuke_.' Kakashi's eye flickered over to where the black-haired boy lay next to his other former sensei. Iruka's chest was rising and falling gently in the rhythm of sleep, Sasuke's mimicking it. The jounin ran his fingers along Itachi's hand. Another hand closed over his fingers, and Kakashi glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Itachi looking up at him. The second hand was at his cheek, running fingertips along the edges of his face mask. He gave no resistance as the fingers brought the mask down, and parted his lips as Itachi's thumb ran over them. Kakashi caught Itachi's wrist and held the hand at his mouth, a tongue flicking out to taste the tips of Itachi's fingers.

Shadowed black eyes met a single equally dark orb, and wasn't surprised to find it glazed with longing.

"Slowly," Itachi whispered, allowing Kakashi to push him back onto the pillows.

The Jounin knew that he had to be gentle; Itachi was still recovering. With this thought in mind, hungry lips met and Kakashi buried himself in the other man's scent. Itachi's hands pulled Kakashi's body over his, the familiar weight fitting over his hips again as Kakashi straddled him, elbows planted on either side of his head. The jounin's hand pushed Itachi's bangs away and then caressed the silken cheek they'd been hiding from view, trailing down to a demanding mouth that rose to meet his own again with hot breath.

Kakashi shed his gloves and let his bare hands run over Itachi's neck, but slowly, keeping the motion sensual and controlled. Itachi shuddered beneath the touch, lips parting and breath coming ragged as Kakashi began to lift his shirt, revealing a well-toned stomach. The silver-haired man folded the blue material back up to Itachi's collar and licked the skin above his heart. A hand rested on the wet trail that he'd left, and Kakashi looked into Itachi's eyes. The once missing-nin pulled Kakashi's body down closer to his, arms around his neck as their hips slid together again. The pressure against Itachi's leg told him exactly what the jounin wanted ... what he _needed_ ... but suddenly a burst of pain went off in his head, Itachi's wince clearly one of discomfort, and Kakashi backed off. Itachi grabbed Kakashi's shoulder as he felt the warmth of the other man's body begin to retreat. "No ... don't stop." Kakashi didn't want to, but he wouldn't risk hurting Itachi in his state.

"There's always tomorrow," Kakashi said softly, and then was jerked back down for a searing kiss. Itachi put as much want and need into the motion as he could, Kakashi shuddering at the invitation, hot, wet lips _insisting, _**demanding** that he continue. When the black-eyed man finally allowed him to breathe, Kakashi tried to back off again, but Itachi held him fast.

"There's never a tomorrow for a ninja," Itachi said, breathless, "Kakashi, _please_ ..."

Kakashi's thin line of resistance broke, and he bore down upon Itachi, years of pent up longing and lust unleashed in everything he did; in the touch, the way he drove Itachi back into the pillows and kissed him hungrily, in the scent of the older man as Itachi drank in the sight of him shirtless again, in the flavor he left in Itachi's mouth as their bodies rushed together. Alive again in his veins was the rush of lust, and he felt himself harden as Kakashi's hips began to move. Legs parted and Kakashi's hand slid down Itachi's inner thigh, testing the cloth. Itachi groaned, careful to keep the noise soft so as not to wake the other two, who were just sleeping. Even though both doubted that either Sasuke or Iruka would wake, they would take no chances.

Kakashi kissed Itachi, and the Uchiha couldn't help moaning into the mouth, out of which came no words but heavy breaths that told of the need to continue down. Itachi kissed Kakashi's jaw and neck and shoulder as he ran his hands over Kakashi's bare back, getting a familiar feeling for the skin that belonged to him, memorizing the places where smooth skin stretched over tense muscles. The feel of Itachi's fingers on his back again caused Kakashi to shudder; he was losing the ability to restrain them from bucking against Itachi's hips, which raised slightly as the younger man arched his back in pleasure.

"Kakashi ..." The jounin reveled in the sound of Itachi's voice calling his name with such short breath, revealing a need for haste. Silently, slowly, Kakashi worked himself away from Itachi's demanding lips to focus on his lower half.

Careful to keep quiet and somewhat restraining himself so as not to knock Itachi's head around, Kakashi slid off Itachi's pants and hung them over the side of the bed. For a moment it was all he could do not to lose himself and become a thing solely composed of need and want as Itachi spread his knees, inviting him to enter. Kakashi looked up, and Itachi's gaze, drunken with need, prompted the next motion which sent a hot spike through Itachi's center. It wasn't slow, it wasn't gentle, but it was something overpowering for both. Itachi gasped into Kakashi's mouth as the motion was repeated, skin rhythmically sliding against skin as the pace quickened, Kakashi beating deep within him to the rhythm of something ritualistic and ancient as time. Kakashi moved with a primal ferocity as he thrust deeper. Itachi's breath was hot, and his skin was slick with sweat now. The body above him moved with a gracefulness unparalleled as the twilight reigned, and as the ritual peaked, something warm returned to the center of Itachi's chest.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

_'Listen carefully. I have a task for you to do.'_

The Hyuuga grounds were quiet. Every once in a while, a servant would wander past with some task, not taking notice of the silent watcher. Soon, Hatake-san would come over, as usual, seeking Uchiha Sasuke. It had become something the members of the Hyuuga had accepted. They generally respected the jounin, not only for his position, but for his reputation as well. It was rumored that he alone had brought Uchiha Itachi back to Konoha, and single-handedly swayed the man to their side. The Hyuugas respected him, and he was just as normal to a house or branch member as a pair of blank, white eyes, or a young man with a fan on his back.

_'It has come to my attention that Neji-kun has built up a very strong ... relationship with the youngest Uchiha boy.'_

It hadn't been a great secret. In fact, Neji had casually mentioned it once or twice, as if it were like the weather or the time. She had heard it before, and she remembered snapping. The urge to confront the Hyuuga elders had come to her, but she did not take up on it. They would have to take notice, and now they had, and they had passed their judgment. She clearly recalled being called to the main house, and being left alone with the eldest member of the Hyuuga clan, who had gone straight to his points.

_'It is not so much the relationship that must be remedied. It worries me that Neji would commit the rest of his life to that boy instead of the clan. He is a great warrior, and to lose the children he would bestow upon the clan to a future with one man is unacceptable. Neji has spent too much time dabbling about in his childish beliefs. He must be brought back to us.'_

The old, white-eyed man had looked at her with a sharp gaze.

_'You understand why I appointed you to this.'_

_'Yes, sir.'_

_'Then it will be done.'_

_'Yes.'_

Neji would have no idea what hit him. A pair of silent black eyes watched the silver-haired man slip inside the room. They watched him turn and leave, and with him went Uchiha Sasuke. She stood, already prepared. It was time.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Stepping into the room, Kakashi rose an eyebrow in amusement. "What do we have here?"

Sasuke moved a black stone onto the board. "Two extremely bored teenagers with nothing to do. Why?"

The silver-haired man shrugged. "Just asking. If you don't have anything to do, Sasuke, I wanted to spar."

"Ok," the black haired boy said, abandoning his hopeless game against Neji, who smirked up at the retreating teen.

"Shall I save this game?" he called to Sasuke's retreating back. "Aa? Erm, no, it's ok," Sasuke said as he followed Kakashi out. The brown-haired teen sighed and cleared the board, slipping the black pieces back into the black container and the white stones back into their container. It was hard to find time to be with Sasuke all of a sudden. The ANBU exams were closing in on them, and the week had disappeared without allowing either boy time for eachother. After he'd put the board away, he decided that he might benefit from some training of his own. He went to his room, changed into some more flexible clothing, and made his way back towards the room he'd left, which led outside. Before he could reach the door, it opened. Neji rose an eyebrow.

"I thought you went with Kakashi to train," he said, walking closer. Sasuke shook his head. "No. Neji, it's over."

Neji shrugged. "That was fast."

"You know what I mean," Sasuke said as Neji passed through the door. The gennin paused to face him. "No... if you're not talking about Kakashi, then what **do** you mean?"

"Us. It's over. **That's** what I mean."

Neji frowned. "Who are you? You're not Sasuke." The black-haired boy didn't contradict him. "I don't need to prove anything to you. It's not worth my time." He shut his eyes, and then started walking in the direction of the entrance to the Hyuuga estate. Neji's eyes widened. "Wait--" The Uchiha didn't stop walking, so Neji jogged up to stand in front of him. "Sasuke, what's this about?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Move."

Neji frowned. "Not until you tell me what's up. You're acting like a prick."

The other gennin stuffed his hands in his pockets, a corner of his mouth twitching up into a smirk.

"You don't **get** it do you? I don't want **you** in my **face**, _that's_ what's up." The Hyuuga gritted his teeth as 'Sasuke' continued. "You think that because I spent a night with you that I'm going to commit my entire life to you? Please! I've got more important things to do..."

"Shut up," Neji hissed, his hands clenching into fists. Sasuke continued, satasfied with the cracks that were beginning to appear in the other boy's cool facade. "Come on, Hyuuga, it was fun and all, but all I came back for was to tell you to stay out of my way from now on. We can still be friends if you want."

Neji snapped.

"Friends? _Friends?_ After what we've been through? Who the fuck do you think you are? You can't play with someone's feelings like that! I thought you loved me!" Sasuke snorted. "Please. I have no feelings like that for you."

"Why the hell not? What happened?"

Suddenly, Sasuke was walking again. "I told you, I don't need to prove anything to you. Thanks for the fun time," he tossed over his shoulder. Neji jumped in front of him again. "Who the hell are you!" he yelled, grabbing Sasuke's collar, "You can't be Sasuke, goddamnit!" The grin on Sasuke's face only spread at the sight of irrationality spreading across the Hyuuga's usually calm face. _'Excellent this will be easier than I thought.'_"You still don't get it? And they called you a genius, Hyuuga," Sasuke taunted as he jerked out of the pale-eyed boy's grip, "There was never anything between us, pretty boy. It was all in your head."

"That's a lie," Neji hissed, ready to pummel the black-haired boy into the ground to prove his point. "That's a lie, and you know it."

"Why do you fight so hard against what you can't control?" Sasuke asked suddenly, eyes staring blankly at him in a way that revealed no emotion. "Why do you insist on trying to come to me when I don't want to think about you that way? Are you so selfish that you can't see that I don't want this?"

White eyes narrowed in confusion. Nothing was making sense. Everything was coming at him so fast he didn't have time to put up his barriers; every blow Sasuke sent him, every misaimed attack to his heart hit home. Sasuke knew they the impact he was making and continued.

"Why do you persist on hoping when there's nothing to hope for? We're both men. There's no possibility of a relationship ever working out this way." What he did next confused the angry white-eyed boy. Stepping into Neji's personal space, Sasuke rose a hand and brushed it against his cheek. "Neji ..."

"What are you trying to do? After everything you just said--" Neji hissed as the hand made contact, though he felt relieved as regret flickered in Sasuke's eyes. "I tried to push you away," Sasuke muttered, "and I can't. I don't want to hurt you." His voice strengthened as his fingers brushed against Neji's skin. "I'm sorry. I said some things I didn't mean ... but I did mean it when I said I don't want to see you anymore." The relief that had begun to build in Neji's chest became a cold, hard chunk of fear. "But ... why?" Sasuke's eyes softened slightly.

"I want a family." White eyes widened. "I think you do, too. And I don't want this to be the only thing standing between you and happiness."

"But ... I'm happy here," Neji whispered, his hands reaching up to cover Sasuke's. "I only want you. I want us, I want this ... for us to be together..."

"I love you."

Sasuke's eyes took on a new emotion; one that Neji missed because his head was tilted down. The emotion lingered and then was gone, and Sasuke pulled his hand back.

"If you love me then you'll let me go."

Neji watched the black-haired Uchiha walk out of the doors. As Sasuke disappeared, Neji looked at his hands, and wondered why there was water on his palms if it wasn't raining. He didn't notice the footsteps approaching, and he didn't register the hand on his shoulder until the elder Hyuuga spoke his name.

"Neji?"

Wet white eyes blinked and opened and closed and opened again. The weight on his shoulder was lifted. "Neji, is something wrong? You look like you were crying."

Neji shook his head softly, letting his hands fall at his sides. "No," he said softly, "nothing's wrong, elder."

The old Hyuuga nodded. "Come with me, my child. There are some things I want to discuss with you ..." He took Neji's limp arm and gently urged the silent boy forth, a smirk on the lips that Neji couldn't see.

A few minutes later, Sasuke stopped moving and dropped the jutsu. The limbs dropped their age by several years, hair lengthened again to fall at a slender waist, and black eyes drained of their false color. Her job done, she would return to the elder and report. As she made her way towards the Hyuuga estates again, she thought about what she'd said and heard. The white-eyed boy had hoped right to the end, even after she revealed what the elder suspected would ultimately change Neji's mind. Soft eyes fell on the boy's back as he followed the oldest Hyuuga into a private setting, probably for a long, hypnotic talk of fate, destiny, and the path that Neji would now have to walk. She recalled the way Neji's hand had rested on hers, and cursed Uchiha Sasuke for being the only one Neji would care about that much.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

The blonde shinobi shut the door to the roof and walked to the side of the roof that overlooked most of the city. The Hokage's tower rose high above the roofs of the other houses in Konoha, and this is where Tenmari knew Kankuro would be.

"You always hid yourself on the top of the highest dunes," she said softly as she sat beside him, "it was always a simple task to find you; decked in purple on top of those sandy mountains."

Kankuro didn't reply as his sister unstrapped the fan from her back. "Sora's not going to leave ... Tsunade thinks she might do something rash if she knows where to find Naruto and Gaara." At the last name, Kankuro's frame twitched. Tenmari's eyebrows drew together in a worried expression. "Kankuro ..." The purple-clad shinobi refused to speak, even as she reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "Kankuro, are you going to go on the mission when it's time?" Kankuro remained unresponsive.

"... 'Kuro ... please, talk to me ..."

The two sat in silence for a while, Tenmari with one hand on her brother's shoulder and the other clenched tightly at her side, and Kankuro still as stone as he stared off defiantly nowhere. The emptiness continued on, stretching, becoming a cushion for Kankuro to arrange his thoughts on. The pressure of Tenmari's hand on his shoulder reminded him to remain diligent of her presence and not take too long. Before she gave up hope of an answer, Kankuro pulled his knees to his chest and crossed his arms over them, a sign that he was thinking about something painful that he didn't want to express.

Tenmari allowed herself to breathe slowly, knowing that he would answer, in his own time.

In the time between, she braced herself for whatever Kankuro might have to say, whether it was hatred towards their sibling or fury at her for not telling him sooner. She honestly had no clue what to expect from her emotional younger brother, espically in a situation like this. Someone close to Kankuro, who he'd known for a long time, had been carelessly murdered by a sibling that he hadn't seen for years. Tenmari hoped to whoever was listening in the heavens above that Kankuro would hold no grudge, even though he hadn't seen their brother yet. Gaara wasn't like that. Naruto wasn't like that. She wouldn't believe that the two boys that had stayed with her in Konoha for a short time would do something without a reason.

"Tenmari?"

The blonde girl looked up out of her thoughts, smiling softly at her brother. "Hmm?"

" ... I ..." Kankuro looked down for a moment and then turned to face his sister, "... I'll only go if you're going."

Tenmari's eyes widened for a moment and then she nodded. "Okay."

The purple-clad ninja remained still, his eyes locked with his sister's. His eyebrows drew together in confusion. "I just ... I don't understand. I want to be furious ..." his hands clenched at his sides, " ... it would be so _easy_, so simple to be furious at Diana's murderer. If it were anyone else ..." His gaze dropped and his hands fell limp to his sides. "How did you take the news?"

"That my little brother killed Diana?" She smiled when her brother nodded, curiosity and caution spiking in his shadowed eyes. "I was mad. In fact, I was furious. I think I broke something. Luckily Sora had vacated the room before I really realized it." Tenmari let a grin cross her features. "For about ten minutes, I cursed him, blamed him, and shouted every obscene curse within my vocabulary. I knocked over whatever was within range, threatened inanimate objects, and generally fumed. And then I stopped to try and rationalize." She folded her hands over her ample chest, letting her back straighten. The sunlight stretching out over the roofs caught her hair at an angle so the light shadowed her eyes and defined her posture. Kankuro's eyes widened. Suddenly she looked much, much older. "I calmed down, and thought. I tried to place the events with my memories of Gaara ... and nothing fit." A pair of emerald orbs focused on Kankuro's eyes. "I thought about Gaara. And this is what I remembered." She uncrossed her arms and spread them out in front of her, as if explaining to a small child in a soft, patient voice.

"I remembered a scarred little boy with wide green eyes and a teddy bear. I remembered a small voice, and a tiny pair of hands grasping a small blanket." She ghosted her fingers along her wrist, teal eyes searching the skin for something that wasn't there. "I remember a lost look, and a quiver to his voice." Her ears could almost hear him from around the corner, asking quietly but desperately if anyone was there. Tenmari gave Kankuro a glance before returning her gaze to the village of Konoha.

"I remember our little brother, Gaara. I don't remember ever seeing a demon in our house."

Kankuro looked at his blonde sibling for a long time. "... Tenmari, would you come with me if I said I wanted to visit someone?" Tenmari looked at her brother in confusion but nodded as he stood. "Sure. Where are we going?"

"To the hospital."

The blonde kunoichi nodded, confused. No one they knew was in the hospital, as far as she knew. Still, they headed over the rooftops, the elder not questioning her brother's path but following silently. Within ten minutes they reached the hospital, and the two siblings entered the building together. A nurse clad in white was attending to an old woman at the counter when the door shut behind them. She looked up at them as the old woman moved towards the exit. "May I help you?" she asked. Kankuro nodded. "Yes, I'm looking for ..." He paused and tilted his head, as if listening to something, then shook his head. "I'm sorry. Never mind," he said, turning around and exiting, Tenmari following him out of the hospital with a very confused look.

"'Kuro? I thought--"

Kankuro lifted a finger to his lips, jerking his head up, indicating that she should look in that direction. Tenmari blinked as she realized that there was a chuunin sitting on the roof across from a hospital window. Kankuro walked away from the hospital towards the building, and Tenmari followed, wondering why the school teacher was sitting on a roof.

The sand siblings came onto the roof and Iruka waved to them. "Hey! You're the first ones to find me!"

Tenmari suddenly realized why Kankuro had wanted to find this person. There had been rumors escaped the hospital that Iruka had a way to talk to Gaara and Naruto, though it wasn't known how the rumors started or if they were valid. But the second part of the rumor went that the connection was slowly killing him. Tenmari had gathered enough info from her friends who worked near the hospital to know what was mostly true and what was mostly rumors, and if Kankuro was thinking of talking to Gaara via the chuunin teacher ...

"Kankuro--"

"I won't ask him to talk to _them ..._. I want to talk to _him_."

Tenmari frowned but stood back as Kankuro walked over to the chuunin and sat down next to him. Iruka smiled softly. "Hi. You're Kankuro, right?" The purple-clad nin nodded. "Yeah. You're Umino Iruka, right?" Iruka smiled brightly now. "That's right. You're Gaara's big brother, aren't you?" Kankuro nodded. "Yeah ..."

Iruka's smile softened again. "You want to talk about Gaara-kun, don't you?" Kankuro nodded, the teacher having taken the words out of his mouth. Iruka didn't speak again immeditally, stretching back and relaxing on the surface of the roof. His warm brown eyes were fixed on a window a floor above the one level with the roof they were on. "You know, it's good." Kankuro rose an eyebrow. "To have precious people."

"... aa."

Iruka laughed.

"The truth is, Gaara-kun and Naruto-kun have been so anxious waiting for someone to come to them that they're considering coming back to Konoha." At this the two sand siblings tensed. Kankuro faced Iruka fully. "Did they mention when they might show up?"

Iruka shook his head. "Nope. But they did say that they'd tell me first, and I believe them." His smile softened Kankuro's doubts into a pile of silly worries, and the gennin wondered if this was what everyone who talked to Iruka went through. The chuunin made things sound so lofty and idealistic that Kankuro was having trouble remembering why he wanted to talk to Iruka in the first place. He had to focus. "Iruka, can you tell me about my brother?" Tenmari moved to stand by her brother, interested to hear Iruka's knowledge of the two boy's life. At the suggestion, Iruka's face had lit up and he became animated more than either of the two had ever seen before.

"Oh, wow! Where to begin ... Well, the first thing I remember, which happened a long, long time ago, was when Gaara and Naruto first met. They were in the waiting room for children to see the Hokage. Kakashi and Gai were there, and a tall man brought in Gaara, and you two!" Tenmari nodded; this she recalled. Hinata also retained this memory, and she was pretty sure that a certain pair of black-haired Uchiha brothers would, too. "That was the day that they left Konoha ... That's my first memory ... the next is when they competed in the Chuunin exams." Kankuro and Tenmari nodded. The blonde recalled going up against Naruto in the preliminaries, and Kankuro remembered how furious he was at how some blonde, loud-mouthed nobody could beat up his older sister. Then, he and Gaara had gone and shot the entire thing to hell with their antics, causing the test to end and the village to go into a state of emergency. Iruka was smiling fondly at the memory, as if it had been as pleasant as a birthday party. "Then they showed up to stay with you, Tenmari-san. They had to leave so soon, though, it was a very quick visit." Tenmari nodded. It was within those few days that she'd observed the blossoming of a real relationship between Sasuke and Neji. She hadn't known either well before the chuunin exams, but as the village wound down and clean-up had her working along side them, they soon became intriguing books to read. The blonde hid a smile as Iruka continued. "And they haven't been back since, if I remember right. It's been so long since they visited ... and they're out there all alone ..." He paused and then smiled sadly. "... even Itachi-san's here with us in Konoha now. I sort of wish that he could've stayed with them. It must be lonely."

"Gaara wouldn't be lonely," Kankuro muttered, causing Iruka to look up in mild surprise. "Hmm?"

"He's with Naruto, right?" Tenmari asked. When Iruka nodded, a smile spread across her face.

"Well, then he's not alone."

Iruka's brown eyes watched the two for a moment and then he nodded. "You're right," he said, turning to face the hospital. Kankuro and Tenmari looked at each other in slight confusion, watching as Iruka made his way towards the edge of the building. With a leap, he landed on the side of the buliding and glued his feet to the wall with chakra. He opened a window and swung himself in, turning back to the sand siblings and motioning them to follow. Curious, Kankuro and Tenmari followed, the kunoichi hopping on her brother's back and Kankuro threading several invisible strings across the gap between both buildings for him to land on. The strings met at one point and Kankuro leapt to that point and bound across to the window, Tenmari catching the top of the window and sliding off of Kankuro's back to allow him in first, and then followed. The blonde shut the window and followed Kankuro out the door, both keeping an eye on Iruka as they maneuvered their way through the hospital silently, unseen, unheard. It was a silly sense of thrill, but it was fun all the same, dodging nurses and doctors, invisible to the eye as they made their way to a set of stairs. They tromped up one flight and Iruka led them to his room. When he opened the door, Itachi was sitting on the bed, legs crossed indian style in front of him. Tenmari and Kankuro entered, Iruka shutting the door behind them.

"Ok," he said, grinning. Itachi nodded. "Thanks, Iruka." Tenmari and Kankuro frowned. What was going on?

The black haired Uchiha looked at Kankuro and Tenmari. "You two are Gaara's siblings, are you not?" He received two nods. "I thought so." The sand siblings shifted uncomfortably in front of Itachi as the older man stood, black eyes focused entirely on them. "I don't know what Naruto and Gaara have done, but I intend to find out. And ..." Iruka grinned at this part, knowing what Itachi had in store. " ... there is something I am about to do that will shake Konoha into action. I was wondering if you wanted to come along for the ride."

Tenmari glanced at Kankuro.

Kankuro looked at Tenmari.

Two grins greeted Itachi's expectant eyes, and somewhere far away, a fox and a badger sneezed.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

That took forever to write ... Guuh ... I'll start on chapter 24 ... (tries to lift hands and dies from exhaustion)

**Responding to Reviews:**

**muto shizuka**: o-O YAY! Someone loves me! Details _do_ make the story; they make the story very, very long. T-T About the story: don't worry I'm not killing Itachi, but i'll let you wonder about N+G ... bwahahaha ... Itachi being accepted in Konoha--I think the question is answered somewhere above. right. Sasuke's pretty much accepted that it wasn't his brother killing his clan. I tried to be discretely obvious about my theory of Orochimaru killing off the clan, but whatever.

I really love people like you and Alt that make my dayz. (grins and glomps screen)

**inuyasha92689:** Your reply was about thisclosetogetherandmadethismuchsense. hope you can read it. learn to write things that might mean something to me: you suck, you're awesome. those say things to me. right. later.

Shinimegami7: T-T. The story will be a little shorter. Sorry aobut the insane length. I shouldn't've taken the route everyone else did; copying the chuunin exams. what an idiot ... right ... anyway, thankx so much for your critique and comments! And main characters DO DIE. hope other people are reading this. Reading reviews actually lets you in on some of my ideas, muahahahaha ... and I do the 'evil laugh' thing when I do let people know stuff. Have a good day.

Jasmine Starlight: Omg, omg, omg, PLEASE DON'T DIE! Sorry I waited so long to update. Don't die--I love you! You reply to every chapter, just like alt eld, and somother people! Please don't diee! (sobs)

**ruby-sama aura-chan the neko-j...:** yay yay, MPD check!

sarah: (over my shoulder) dude, you've got MPD so bad it's not even funny. don't you dare hit on the simple split personality people. (leaves)

me: (stares after pms-ing sister) riiiiiight ...

**Ruby Heart**: Ooooh, just in case you're wondering, Sakura becomes one of the main chacaters later on! Hope other people check the reviews for clues about the story. I'm only giving away parts of the damn plot.

(coughs)

Sorry. Thanks for reviewing! I'll try to go faster. (T-T really. i will.)

Ok, seeing as I don't have anything else to do, Merry Xmas and all that. See you later...


	24. Pulled In All The Wrong Directions

**Chapter 24**: Pulled In All The Wrong Directions

There are lots of choppy sections, but here it is at last, chapter 24 ... sorry for the horrendiously long wait ...

yay. new year and all that. reviewing responded to at bottom of page...

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"Yeah, yeah! You know it, you're the best! You're the best there is, yeah!" Ino cheered, Shikamaru grumbling as Chouji joined in. Across from them, Ino's teammates laughed, watching the girl carry on. "You're on top of the game, baby, yeah! And no one can beat you! Well, except for me, but I don't mind! Yeah!"

"Ino, you're making less sense than usual," Kiba cracked from across the table, Shino unable to hide the snort of laughter as their female teammate flung her empty drink cup at them.

"Shaddup! You're jealous, because I'm sittin' with the only non-jounin/ANBU members goin' on the next big mission!"

Shikamaru hastily clapped a hand over her mouth. "Shh! Ino, I thought I told you not to mention that!"

Kiba laughed, despite the lump on his head. "Like she ever listens to anyone!"

**THWAP** "OW!"

"Ino, if you throw the last cup, you can't get a refill," Chouji pointed out thoughtfully as the blonde reached for the last glass. She paused to search for more cups, but true to Chouji's story, she currently held the last cup in her fingers.

"Where'd they all go?"

"To Kiba's temple," Shino supplied, glancing at the mounting red lumps on the poor boy's head.

Akamaru was whining sympathetically next to him. Asuma was laughing his ass off. Chouji was eating. And Shikamaru muttered 'troublesome' when he thought no one else was listening.

Life was good.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

The two of them had been at it almost two hours. Blows were now only being delt by the black-haired teen, and the silver-haired man was concentrating on critiquing the moves as they came and he was able to block them, dropping hints and clues with each defected blow. Both of them were wearing, and both of them were counting the hours to the ANBU exam. With a final resounding crack, Kakashi dropped his guard, and Sasuke didn't attack again.

"That was good," Kakashi said, pulling out an orange novel. "You should ask Itachi to spar with you. I think it'd be good to get in a match with him before the exam tomorrow night."

Sasuke nodded, turning around. "Ok. He's at the hospital, right?"

"Yup."

"... thanks for the spar."

"Go on. I'm going to go find Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan."

Sasuke nodded, and set off towards the hospital at the sound of Kakashi's telltale 'poof'. He jogged back to the village, slowing to a walk as he entered the more populated grounds. Several familiar faces nodded at him, some people waved at him and he nodded back curtly, keeping eye contact to a minimum. The street crowds were thinning, typical of the time of day. The crowds would return in an hour during dinner hours and the streets would remain crowded until near 10 o'clock. Sasuke listened to the sounds of the street as he walked along. Among the sounds were people walking, speaking, animals moving around, laughter, haggling, the slow padding of a child that walked along side him for a moment and then ran back to his mother when he was called. Sasuke walked on, a slight smile on his face.

Soon the hospital was in view. Sasuke nodded to the nurse at the desk, having arranged to be allowed into his brother's room except in an emergency. The nurse nodded back, and returned to her job. Sasuke walked down the hall, climbed the stairs, and walked a few more corridors before coming to the room.

He pushed the doors open. "Itachi?"

Silence answered him.

Surprised, the black-haired teen walked into the room, looking around. Itachi wasn't in his bed, not that he always stayed there. Sasuke shrugged, shutting the door and turning to explore the rest of the hospital.

Itachi would get restless, and, to the irritation of the doctors and the nurses, get up without a warning and just walk around the place, not interfering but not helping either. He simply watched.

Sasuke thought his brother was slightly insane from his head injury.

He came across several doctors and asked to see his brother. They all answered the same thing; that Sasuke would find him in his room, and if he didn't, they would be having WORDS with the rebellious Uchiha. Sasuke thought this amusing, and with a smirk plastered onto his face, returned to the room his brother had been assigned to.

However, upon his return, Itachi was still absent. Sasuke then remembered that Iruka was supposed to be there. He frowned and activated his Sharingan. No illusions had been put on the room, and from what Sasuke could see Itachi hadn't left any surprises for the nurses or doctors who tried to uncover him from under the bed, unlike last time. The confused boy deactivated his Sharingan, turning to leave, when a piece of paper caught his eyes. Rolling his eyes, he picked up the paper.

Seconds later he was dashing towards Hokage tower, the note clenched in his fist, hoping desperately that the slip of paper held no ounce of truth.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Chouji looked around. Asuma and Ino had left early, Kiba following soon after. Shino had disappeared some time in the middle of Shikamaru's mutterings of his boredom, which had left the two of them at a table piled to the ceiling with empty dishes. The shadow-user groaned as their waiter approached them, a long slip of white paper in his hands.

"We'll never be able to pay for all this," he grumbled as the waiter let fall the slip in front of him. He shut his eyes and put his hands on his head, ignoring the chuckles from his portly friend. "Tell me how much it is--it's too depressing to even look at it."

Chouji took the slip and did a double take. "Hmm. That's weird."

"What?"

"It's not a bill."

Shikamaru opened an eye. "Hm?"

"It's not a bill. It's a note."

The Nara sat up, listening as Chouji read the words on the paper.

" '_This isn't your bill, that's coming later. If you'd like to avoid paying, rip this slip in half._' "

Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged a glance at each other. "It can't be that bad," Shikamaru reasoned calmly as he took the slip, "Let's wait until the bill comes.

A few minutes later, a waiter approached the table with a white slip six meters long.

The two boys took one look at the waiter and tore the white slip in their hands to shreds.

The waiter's eyes widened as the two boys disappered with a 'poof', nothing to prove their presence had ever existed save the mountains of dishes he would now be responsible for. He groaned. "Why **me**!"

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Tsunade grinned, proud of her work. She could now see one-fourth of an inch of wood on her desk! In fact, she could now recgonize what were supposed to be the edges of her desk. There was still mountains of paper work to go through, but with a weekend ahead of her and half of her work done, _nothing _could--

KA-BAM

Papers littered the floor as Sasuke appeared in front of Tsunade, panting.

An anger blotch, just one, appeared on the blonde's forehead with an auidable 'snap'.

"**SASUKE**!"

"Hokage-sama!"

The two yells cancelled out, Tsunade staring at a wide-eyed gennin's face. Her eyes darted to the piece of paper in his hands and widened.

_'It's a list.'_

"Sasuke ... w-what ... What is that?"

The Uchiha snapped out of his stupor and looked at her evenly. "It's a joke. A sick joke. I want to know who's responsible for this." Tsunade frowned. "But what does it say?" Sasuke crossed the room in three strides and placed it on her desk, ebony eyes blazing. "Read it yourself." Tsunade would have taken offense at the tone, had she not already begun to read the words on the page. Sasuke watched her, waiting for her judgment. Hopefully she would know who was responsible for this ...

"Sasuke ..."

He looked up. The blonde's eyes were dilated in fear, hands clenched on her desk. He could smell the cold sweat from her palms, could almost see her skin paling. Fear flickered across his face and then retreated. It was laughable. It was a joke. It couldn't be true. "Who was it?"

"..."

"Well?"

The Hokage didn't answer right away. In fact, for a moment, she seemed incapable of moving. Sasuke's patience wore out, and he slammed his hands on the desk, voice hitched with fear. "_Hokage-sama_!"

Tsunade snapped out of her funk. "ANBU ... have to inform them ..." The bottom of Sasuke's stomach dropped out.

"Of what?"

"Mission ... we'll have to leave soon as the exam ends ..."

Sasuke grabbed her wrist, their eyes locking. "It can't be true."

"... I'm sorry, Sasuke."

As the youngest Uchiha disappeared, the piece of paper fell to the ground, facing skywards.

_**'Hi! **_

_**We're tired of waiting for you to come to us! **_

_**So, for motivational purposes only, we're taking Itachi-chan back, and Iruka-nii, too! **_

_**Please come after us. **_

_**Naruto**_

_**Gaara'**_

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"KAKASHI!"

The silver-haired jounin looked up, slightly surprised at the sound of the Hokage's voice. "Mm? What brings you out here, Hokage-sama?" he asked, picking himself up off the bench. He'd been sitting in a park on the outer edges of the village with Sakura, who had stumbled across him on her way home. The two had just finished discussing her reasons for taking the ANBU exam, and were getting ready to head back towards the village. Sakura suddenly had a sinking feeling.

"What's wrong, Hokage-sama?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"It's Itachi. He's gone."

Kakashi's visible eye widened. She couldn't mean-- "Why?"

"It's not like that," Tsunade said quickly, realizing that Kakashi thought that Itachi had left them to join a renegade group of ninja again. The relief that spread across Kakashi's features was short-lived. "It's worse. Naruto and Gaara have taken him with them."

The sinking feeling Sakura had felt before was confirmed.

"How? When? Wouldn't we have felt them coming into the village?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Perhaps not ... with the demons inside them, they'd have no trouble suppressing and masking their chakra. It's even conceivable that they sent in clones. We can't afford to underestimate them again." Kakashi frowned. "What will you tell the villagers?" The blonde glanced at him sharply.

"Nothing."

Sakura was shocked. "Wh-what! Why not?"

"Think about it," Tsunade said, running a hand through her hair, "if I tell people that Uchiha Itachi was kidnapped, they'll panic. If one of the members of Konoha's strongest clan was simply plucked out from under our noses, it would be effortless for them to take more hostages, including children." Sakura nodded, absorbing in the idea and turning it over in her head. Logical. She blinked. Logic. Shikamaru. The genius would come up with something, she thought.

"Why don't you ask Shikamaru to help you out?" she suggested. Tsunade's stern lecturing face faded and revealed worry. "Yes ... I would ..."

"He's gone, isn't he?" Kakashi asked, cutting through the silence that had begun to form. Sakura bit her lip, Tsunade nodding.

"I don't want a panic. This has to remain between you and Sakura."

"What about Hinata?" Tsunade shook her head.

"Telling her is too risky. Some members of the Hyuuga would use it to their advantage, and throw the village into a panic on purpose. If those Hyuuga got wind by way of Hinata..." Sakura nodded, eyes falling to her feet. Kakashi turned to the Hokage.

"Has Sasuke been informed?"

"Aa. He was the one who informed me," Tsunade said. Kakashi frowned. "... where is he?"

Tsunade's eyes widened. Kakashi cursed softly and turned to Sakura. "Find him. If he's still in the village, we've got to keep him there. Get Neji to help you, if you can." Worry worked across Sakura's face. "What if he finds out ..." Kakashi shook his head. "Try to keep it secret. Go." The kunoichi nodded, disappearing in a puff of smoke. The Hokage hissed. "I should've known..." Kakashi shook his head. "You **didn't** know; what's important **now** is action." Tsunade nodded.

"Right. Assist Sakura. I'm going to inform ANBU captains of the situation, and also the jounins. Try to find him."

With a curt nod, they shot off in different directions.

Sakura re-appeared in front of the Hyuuga estates, knocking on the main entrance door. A white-eyed girl answered moments later. "How may I--"

"I need to see Neji, immediately," Sakura said shortly, leaving no room for question or argument. The Hyuuga nodded, feeling the anxiety rolling off the pink-haired girl fiercely. "Follow me, Haruno-san." She fell back from the door, Sakura following after her. They appeared in front of a sliding door when the Hyuuga turned to Sakura and held a finger to her lips. Sakura tilted her head but kept silent as the door slid open enough to speak.

"Elder, Haruno Sakura requires brother Neji."

There was a murmuring, shifting of clothing, and the sound of feet padding across a floor before it slid open the whole way. Sakura's eyes widened. The white eyes that held her gaze remained emotionless as her jaw slipped, surprise written across her face. The Hyuuga branch member rose an elegant eyebrow.

"You require my help, Haruno-san?"

Sakura's surprise doubled. Since when did he address people so formally? Shoving the surprise backseat, Sakura addressed his question. "I--Yes, I did. Sasuke's missing; we have to find him." Where Sakura expected surprise or shock, worry or confusion, the only facial expression the white-eyed boy wore was slight annoyance. "May I inquire the reason? You're a capable shinobi," Neji argued, his arms crossed over his chest, "and I have no reason to help you." Green eyes widened. Something was definitely wrong.

"But ... I thought ... you two ..." She looked at him, slightly worried. "I was sure that you two were ... together," she finished helplessly, looking for a shard of the old Neji, who smiled around her dark-haired teammate, who didn't mind helping out at the academy with Iruka-sensei after hours. A disgusted look shattered her hope.

"I'm sorry, Haruno-san, but I'm not attracted to men. There's no way we could be ... 'together'."

Sakura felt her heart clench. It wasn't for her, but for Sasuke. What was going on? Why was Neji denying what only a few days ago had been a stable relationship? Did Sasuke know? Did he cause it? What happened? Questions hit her, hard and fast, and Neji watched, no emotion in his hollow white eyes. It was as if he'd gone blind again--though his eyes were still white, they were as hollow as before. Unseeing. Unfeeling. Cold.

A crooked smile crossed Sakura's face.

"That ... I'm sorry, Neji-kun. I didn't mean to offend you. Please forgive me." Neji nodded. "But ... I really ... I'd really appreciate your help," she said softly, trying to decide whether to yell or cry. "I don't think I could find him on my own ... a-and it's very important th-that I find him ..."

Curiosity flashed across Neji's face, then disappeared. "Why?"

"It's about his brother..."

Something unreadable mixed with the curiosity that had returned, and Neji sighed. "Byakugan," he murmured, scanning the village. The Hyuuga's pearl-white eyes could see in all directions. If they chose a certain direction, they could see a mile away, and in this way Neji swept the village, concentrating on finding the youngest Uchiha. His curiosity intensified when his scan revealed Uchiha Itachi's absence. When he had found Sasuke, he shut his eyes, deactivating the Byakugan.

"Haruno-san? I found Uchiha Sasuke ..." Sakura visibly relaxed.

"Thank--"

"... but I cannot locate Uchiha Itachi. I thought he had returned to the village?" Sakura, even as a trained medic nin, couldn't repress a twitch at the information. Neji didn't miss it. "Does Uchiha know of his brother's disappearance?" he asked, slowly piecing things together. Internally cursing, Sakura weighed her options. 1, tell Neji the exact situation and hope he helps her ... and risk having him turn her away without divulging where Sasuke might be. 2, tell Neji only the non-specific details and twist the truth a bit ... risking the same thing, only losing less information. She opted the second.

"Yes. Kakashi-sensei's worried that he might try to go after him, and I was asked to go after him to try and convince him. I came to you because I knew you'd be able to find him first, with the Byakugan, and, well, if he tries to run, you'd have an easier time retaining him than I..."

The white-eyed boy stared at her, weighing his own options. Sakura furrowed her brow. "Neji-kun, please--the time it takes for you to decide--"

"--might be the time in which Uchiha decides to take off, is that it?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow. Sakura nodded, eyes laced with real worry. After another moment of studying, Neji turned away. Sakura felt her hopes plummet as Neji slid the door behind them open.

"Elder? May I assist Haruno-san in her search?"

Sea-green eyes widened.

"Yes. Go quickly, he's moving."

Neji nodded, turning to a stunned and confused kunoichi. "Well? Let's go."

Without giving her time to question him, they took off, Neji leading the way. Their footsteps were audible for only a moment more and then were silent. The elder of the Hyuuga main family waited a moment more and then turned to the girl next to him.

"Follow them, Hanabi."

The white-eyed girl nodded, standing and disappearing after her cousin.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Wandering aimlessly along the edges of Konoha, two siblings walked along the grassy edges of the prodigious Hidden Leaf country. The shorter, with pink hair that fell to her back, was on the balls of her feet, rocking back and forth as her brother surveyed the little village from quite a distance, eyes concentrated. He was searching for something. Quite suddenly, her jade-eyed brother dropped his gaze, and sighed. She hopped in front of him, grinning. "So?"

"So what?"

"So? Whaddya think?"

"Of?"

The pink haired girl growled in frustration to the amusement of her ... _brother_.

"Of KONOHA, you twit!"

"Boring. Nothing ever happens here."

A grim spread across the girl's face. "Why did you bring us here? You must have had a reason."

"... I didn't."

"Come on! You never do nothin' without a reason, Miki!"

The boy's eye twitched. "I told you not to call me that, Tayu."

"And I told _you_ not to call me _that_," she bit back, "now **tell** your little sister _why._ _We're._ _Here_."

Soft green eyes held her curious gaze before the white-haired boy turned away from the village, heading towards an unmarked destination deep within the forest.

"We're looking for a fox."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Shorter than usual but ... -- ... well, I guess that'll have to do for now. I'm still writing this, it's just that I've entered an actual manga contest, and I'm doing that, too now. It's been 3 days, and I've got 14 pages drafted. Nothing really cool, just a little bit of this and that, scraps mostly. But whatever.

**Response to Reviews:**

muto shizuka: Eld rockx my world. She's so awesome. KakaIta is my forte, I admit, but it takes some revising ... it doesn't just flow out, I have to get up several times and really, really think about it. Yes, poor Neji! We all wonder what happened to him; even I don't know, to a certian extent ... but I can bet that you don't know who 'she' is! heh heh ...

**Altariel Eldalote**: oh well, this chapter was short, too. And slow. Boo me. What I did to Neji is for me to know, and for you to ponder on ... for a while. I'll probably tell next chapter. Whether or not they get back together is up to Neij ... and Sasuke ... I've got nothing to do with it ... the fic she's writing is something about Sakura and her insanity, and it's on MY account. I just look over it and slap it on the web. You have no clue how holy this plot is. Hole-Y.

**SensiblyTainted**: I'm terribly sorry! No Gaa/Naru at the moment. I'm sure several people want to kill me for that, but I must admit, I'm saving that for when we're--oh! almost told you, can't have that ... I'll let you wonder.

**TFI-Muse**: Lime is always good. Sorry, Gaa/Naru is coming, promise.

Shinimegami7: I ain't killing anyone ... yet ...

**Hell's Sorrow:** Heh. That just tells me I RoK. My hand's recovered; now my arse aches. I've been sitting and FINISHING this chapter.

I started this when I met Naruto and Gaara, around chapter ... 50? Before that? It was like lightning. Now I'm stuck working on the thunder.I'm glad to see another excited reader. please review, it makes me feel all special and prompts more writing. Sometimes I go bacck over the reviews for self-esteem boosts.

**Jasmine Starlight** : I'll try to hit that in between updating soon and still getting reviews. I am reading your yaoi High School fic, but I've got stuff to finish and, as I mentioned some reviews ago, my butt hurts from sitting so long.

**Rumvirel**: Read what? (you said _Hehe. As sson as I read that I had to review._) Yay! I created a literate Naruto fic! -

**Ruby Heart**: Sorry about not updating in forever, I AM slow ... T-T in all senses of the word ...

**ruby-sama aura-chan the nek...**: Well, sorry, they're staying hidden for a few more chapters. We're working on things in Konoha, plus the two new peeps.

Yo, that's all I got. See you in chapter 25 ...

blue 1/2 (aka xxfissshbonesssxx)


	25. Duroboo

**Chapter 25**: Duro-boo

**Author Note: **omfg. No way. An update.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"ITACHI!!!!!"

The black-haired man sidestepped the teenagers who flung themselves at him, watching as they took down the person who was unfortunate enough to have come in right behind him. The three collapsed into a heap on the floor, Itachi eyeing them all with a smirk.

"Glad to see you too, Naruto, Gaara."

Two pairs of frowns met Itachi's amused face.

"You ducked," Naruto accused.

"I side stepped," Itachi corrected smartly, looking behind them at the four forms in the doorway. "You have more guests. Get up and greet them." The blonde and the red head obliged, letting Iruka go slowly. Jade-amber eyes looked at the two figures who now stood in the door way. Blue-violet eyes watched as the three siblings made eye contact. The blonde girl was first to move, extending her arms and offering a warm smile to the stranger she hadn't seen in years.

"Gaara."

The moment the name rolled off her lips, Gaara was in her arms, head on her shoulder. The blonde rested her hands on his waist, then encircled his shoulders for a hug. Behind them, Kankuro watched with emotionless eyes, unsure of what to feel.

Naruto looked at Tenmari with a pang of jealousy and then felt it ebb away. Gaara's family was his family, too.

Letting her youngest brother go, Tenmari turned to the middle Sand sibling. Kankuro looked at Gaara. Really, really looked at him. The jade-amber eyes, not pleading, but asking softly, silently for some kind of acceptance. The black markings around Gaara's eyes deepened the effect, and Kankuro found himself turning away, unable to believe the face his brother wore was one of a murderer. "You're such a trouble maker," he grunted, half-aware of the small smile on Gaara's face, and Tenmari beaming at him.

"Che," muttered one of the boys left in the doorway, "this wasn't what I expected when we tore up that sheet of paper. How troublesome."

Iruka looked to him. "Well, what DID you expect?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Dunno. Wasn't thinking at the time. But I sure as hell didn't expect to end up with you, two missing nins, the sand duo, and an Uchiha."

Itachi eyed him. "And what are you going to do about it?" he asked, not really caring if they didn't have to put up with one or two more complaining mouthes. Shikamaru looked around, possibly memorizing faces, possibly weighing his options... and then his eyes landed back on the ceiling.

"Che. Too much trouble to bother trying to escape."

Naruto's face lit up. "YES! This is so cool! Let's go, let's go to the top floor and show Itachi-nii around!" Gaara nodded, feeling like he was on a roller-coaster. A moment ago, he was sure they'd get to play with one of the guest's insides, and now they were being given permission to tour the Fortress. _'So confusing...'_ He blinked as Tenmari followed Naruto with a grin, the two blondes bounding off like a pair of springs. Itachi shrugged and followed them, not quite as energetically. Iruka tagged along behind the man, Chouji and Shikamaru not far behind, and Kakuro brought up the rear as they disappeared into the Fortress.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

The grass was still. Sasuke found this very disappointing, as it meant there was no wind. No wind meant nothing to carry smells to his nose. No scents meant it would be harder to track his brother and Iruka.

Sasuke hadn't left Konoha yet, although he had a feeling Itachi and Iruka were no longer within its borders. He was certain that the two demons had something to do with their simultaneous disappearance, though. He was **sure** of it. The leaves above him rustled. The Uchiha heir paused, listening. Moments later a brown furry animal shot out of the treetops, bolting with a mouthful of nuts._ 'Only a squirrel,' _he thought as he shot off, the tree branch quivering slightly at his departure.

Only meters away, Neji turned to confront Sakura.

"Why didn't you approach him?"

The kunoichi flushed. "He looks so deep in thought!" she argued, "and I was hoping that you'd approach first."

Neji blinked at her, then narrowed his eyes. "If this is about your bizarre theory about me and--"

"Never mind," Sakura cut in, "Let's just catch up with him."

The Hyuuga let her sprint off first, turning to the forest behind him. "Hanabi-san, would you be so kind as to stop following us? I'm sure Haruno-san will be much less edgy if you weren't present."

The disgruntled teen dropped out of her hiding spot. "Why should I?" she asked, "The Elder himself asked me to tag along."

"And now I'm telling you not to," Neji said with cold authority, "Your presence could startle Uchiha off before we even get there. He will be familiar with my chakra and Haruno's, but he won't know yours, and might take off if he makes the assumption that we're to restrain him."

Hanabi's brow furrowed. "But he won't be able to--"

"I wont' have you jeopardize this in any way, accidentally or intentionally," Neji said curtly, cutting her off, "so go back. **_Now_**."

The younger Hyuuga flinched at his cold demeanor, and nodded, biting her lip as she turned and disappeared into the trees. Neji watched her go with his Byakugan until she was a safe distance away, then turned to catch up with Sakura. He found her crouching in amongst a small patch of shrubs, only one hundred yards behind their target. The younger girl was _not_ pleased to see him. "Where _were_ you?" She hissed, "Don't answer that - He's stopped again." Neji looked up to confirm the truth in Sakura's words with his eyes. Sasuke had indeed stopped moving, and was looking around. His gaze had not yet traveled behind him, so Neji assumed Sasuke didn't know he was being followed. The kunoichi next to him followed his line of sight and then continued nervously. "We're really close to the border of the fire country... This could be our chance!" Neji rose an eyebrow at her and she nodded. He stood up and began to walk towards Sasuke.

The aforementioned Uchiha was standing near several tree trunks when he heard someone approaching. Gauging his chakra, he figured he could outrun whoever it was, barring possibly a fast chuunin and defiantly Kakashi. Turning to confront whoever it was, Sasuke froze half-way 'round when he heard his name called.

"Sasuke!"

Dark eyes blinked wide as they settled on a figure clad in white and tan. "Neji?"

Sakura, all but forgotten, sat hidden to watch things play out. Her stoic teammate turned towards the Hyuuga. "Neji, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"I came on behalf of Sakura-san," he said, causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow, "What are **you** doing out here?"

"Itachi and Iruka are gone," Sasuke explained, "Those two demons have taken them and I want to find them."

"You?" Neji asked incredulously, "That's absurd - no gennin would last a minute against either of those monsters." Dark eyes bored into white orbs with surprise. Since when did Neji refer to either Naruto or Gaara as monsters? Before he could ask, Neji had turned from him, "Let's go back."

"Neji, wait!"

The taller boy turned, slightly irritated at being held up. Sasuke walked over to where he stood. The taller boy noticed that Sasuke stopped just short of coming within his personal space, as if he had wanted to walk into it but then thought better of himself. "You could help," he reasoned, "with the Byakugan, you could tell where they went."

Neji rose an eyebrow.

"And?" he asked.

"And then we could find out where they went with Itachi and Iruka!" Sasuke finished.

"To what point; to what purpose?" Neji asked cooly. Sasuke looked surprised.

"To find my brother," he said slowly. "To find Itachi."

"The Hokage will handle it. What could you do, even if you did find your brother and Iruka, if _they_ didn't _want_ to let you have them?" Neji proposed, "They'd tear you to pieces and think nothing of it. Hokage-sama will attend to it, in her own time." Sasuke frowned.

"You seem awfully supportive of Tsunade as of late," he said slowly.

"That's because she's the Hokage," Neji answered promptly, "Who will probably want to speak with you about your tendency to want to run away from the village."

Sakura winced. Sasuke's face wasn't visible to her because Neji stood in her line of sight, but she could tell the words were a shock to the other boy. Neji was nearing the spot where Sakura was hidden when Sasuke grabbed his shoulder. The white-eyed boy stopped, turning to look at him. "Yes?" he asked.

"What's up with you?" Sasuke asked.

Neji shrugged off his hand coldly. "Nothing. I simply have better things to do than round up would-be runaways all day."

Sasuke could understand that Neji didn't want to come with him to find Itachi. He could see how Neji wouldn't want to rescue Iruka. He could even accept that Neji held Tsunade in a higher respect than before. But he would no longer tolerate being called a coward. Years of being a ninja had built lightning reflexes into the Hyuuga's body, so even as he didn't have the Byakugan active or hear the rush of air that might've announced another ninja's punch, he automatically caught the fist sailing at his back with ease. Sakura looked astonished. Neji's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Sasuke's fist was shaking in his palm. "...aren't you going to complete your attack?" Neji asked concerning the second fist clenched at Sasuke's side. The other teenager, shaking with fury, couldn't find the words that would express correctly the confusion and the anger and pain that were messing him up inside. His onyx eyes were narrowed, his pride preventing him from replying to the boy's question. Neji sneered. "I used to think of you as an opponent to look forward to fighting, Uchiha," he said dropping Sasuke's fist and continuing to walk away, "but you don't follow through with anything. Those that do not finish what they begin are worthless in their anger." Forgetting Sakura's presence, he looked over his shoulder at the boy.

"Perhaps it would be better if you **_did_** run away... and hide."

Sea-green eyes widened as Sasuke's figure flickered out of existence, then back in front of a surprised Hyuuga. A crack echoed in the forest as Sasuke's fist shot out, nailing Neji squarely in the jaw and sending him flying toward a tree. "Neji!" Sakura said, getting to her feet. However, the figure gave a 'poof!' noise and a log hit the tree with a dull 'thunk!'. Sasuke jumped up as Neji appeared behind him, dropping to the ground and sweeping a foot out. With a clang, kunai blades collided and Sakura could only gasp as the two boys exchanged slashes, each aiming at fatal points on the other's body. The kunoichi had a revelation as Sasuke's shuriken tore through Neji's shirt, as blood dripped from someone's mouth. This was no small bicker between friends, but an actual all-out brawl between two powerful ninjas! Before she could pull herself together, Sasuke had charred the earth with a Katon jutsu, leaving small craters where the earth had been eaten away by the fire. Equally dangerous were the stray weapons that both boys deflected. The pink-haired girl pushed herself into action as a stray kunai whizzed past her face, nearly cutting her cheek. She leapt from the bushes. "Stop!" she yelled, dodging a deflected shuriken as she approached. "Stop fighting!" Sasuke's eyes left Neji for an instant, though it was all the other boy needed. With a swift drop and thrust upwards, Sasuke was on the ground, clutching his left knee. The Hyuuga backed away from Sasuke, whose eyes widened as his body shuddered and without warning he retched. Sakura ran to his side.

"Sasuke... what happened?" The boy didn't answer but panted, his arm shaking as he tried to drag himself into a sitting position. Neji had turned away from the sight.

"I paralyzed his left leg," he said stoically as he began to walk away, "if you need assistance carrying him, let me know."

Sakura turned to her fallen comrade as Neji walked on ahead back in the direction of Konoha. Sasuke cursed, biting his tongue as he struggled to get to his feet. The pink-haired girl took his arm, helping him up until he pushed her off. "...don't need help," he grunted, sweat and vomit dripping from his chin. With a glare, Sakura delivered a cold backhand across Sasuke's face, the boy staggering from the sharp blow. "Don't you DARE refuse my help now, Uchiha Sasuke!" she roared, grabbing up his arm and forcing him to his feet, the boy surprised at her forcefulness, "Now come on, I don't want Neji to get back too long before us." Sasuke nodded, silent for the moment, allowing Sakura to aide him in his hobbling. Neji glanced over his shoulder to check on their progress once in a while, but other than that, kept his distance.

Without any further resistance, the three headed back to the village.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"And this is where you can stay," the blonde said, opening a door to a very spacious dwelling. Tenmari eyed the room with envy as Shikamaru and Chouji's jaw's dropped. It looked like a cafeteria, complete with a kitchen sink, a refrigerator, and several cupboards that were probably packed with food. There was a large window, nearly the entire wall to their immediate front, along it deep crimson curtains to close should they require a more private feel to their room. The floor was wooden and smooth, and there were even a few small carpet-mats underneath the area next to the sink. "This used to be our eating room, but I like the roof better," Naruto filled in as Shikamaru looked at him for an explanation.

"I figured Chouji would like it here." The portly boy sniffed and grabbed a wide-eyed Naruto in a rib-crunching hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Chouji, you're gonna break the kid in half," he warned, looking on as Naruto squirmed in the larger man's grasp. Paying no heed to his boyfriend, the portly nin gave the blonde the hardest hug of his life.

There was a sickening snap, and Chouji froze as he felt Naruto's right humorous break.

Ice ran through Shikamaru's veins as Chouji released the blonde. Gaara was standing next to Shikamaru, tilting his head slightly to the left. However, the boy's jade eyes were trained on the blonde, who was raising the injured limb. Then, something no one had ever seen before happened.

Red trendils of chakra shot up and down his arm like fire, then separated with a 'crack.' Naruto's skin peeled open like a banana, revealing muscle and hot red body fluid. With a jerk, the bone was revealed, surrounded by red chakra, and it righted itself, the red sealing it up like crazy glue. Then the muscle re-bound itself to the now-smooth bone surface, and finally the skin re-laid itself. A wave of chakra shot over the entire arm and with a shudder, Naruto flicked his arm and threw the flames off. The entire process took all of six seconds.

Chouji and Shikamaru looked ready to faint. "What ... what just happened?" Chouji asked, white as a sheet. Naruto held out his arm.

"I undid the muscles around the break, and re-connected the bone. It should be fine now," he declared happily, waving said limb around. "But how?" Shikamaru asked, looking at the arm in amazement and wonder, "You opened up your arm without touching it, reconnected the bone, and lost less than ... eighteen drops of blood with most of your veins exposed ..." Naruto nodded.

"I used chakra to keep most of the blood in. I moved the muscles all by myself, though," he replied with a proud grin, "it's quick, effective, and throws Gaara off."

The red head twitched. "It's freaky."

"WE'RE freaky," Naruto corrected, sticking his tongue out. Gaara pushed his head down with a hand and kept it down as the blonde began to struggle.

"Hey ... _oi_ ... hey, Gaara, hey, hey, hey, hey ..."

Kankuro and Tenmari sweat dropped as Naruto tried to get up, Gaara's hand unmoving on the top of his head. The blonde twisted his head and licked the palm of Gaara's hand, causing the other boy to shiver for a moment. A moment was enough. With a battle cry that promised something painful or hilarious or both, Naruto lunged at the other boy. Gaara had time to catch the erratic boy's shoulders before they tumbled across the floor and headed for a wall. Shikamaru winced as the pair crashed into a wall.

The chuunin let out an aggravated sigh and turned to walk out of the room. "_Aaaaah_, Naruto, you're such a nuisance!"

Chouji grinned, glad to see that someone else had gotten so far underneath Shikamaru's skin. "We're going to go talk to Itachi-san," he mentioned as he followed his boyfriend out of the room, smiling warmly at the blonde kunoichi. Tenmari mirrored the grin as Gaara and Naruto sat up, rubbing their heads in slight pain.

"That hurt," the blonde whined, pouting at the red head. "Gaara--"

A pair of lips pressed themselves against Naruto's forehead, and the blonde's pout lifted. Gaara pulled away from his head, deep jade pools soaking up Naruto's pain and flooding the other boy with a comforting emotion, something warm and apologetic. The blonde blinked several times, still swept away by the gaze that held his, then shook his head and shyed away from the eyes that continued to bore into him. Tenmari watched as the blonde stood, cheerfully jogging out of the room to run after 'Itachi-nii'. Gaara stood up, appearing unfazed. The sandy-haired kunoichi already knew her brother better.

"What's up?"

Gaara turned to his older sister. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb," Tenmari snapped, hands on her hips, "I think I can tell when two people are closer than just friends." Gaara's face was as blank as a sheet of paper, though not nearly as white. He was sure that if Tenmari had had any problems with his mate she would've made it clear the moment she saw them. Just the fact that she wasn't attacking Naruto was comforting, if not reassuring. Kankuro was standing on the sidelines next to Tenmari, wondering whether he needed to be present for this confrontation or not. The oldest sand nin crossed her hands over her ample chest, a frown on her face.

"What I want you to tell me is why Naruto's acting weird."

For a moment, Gaara didn't respond. Tenmari turned a few ideas over in her head and then addressed her youngest brother.

"Did you guys have sex?"

Gaara's cheeks flushed to match his hair. Kankuro choked and excused himself from the rest of the conversation.

Once the elder of the brothers had shut the door, Tenmari walked up to Gaara and uncrossed her arms, looking slightly worried.

"Did you hurt him?"

"No," Gaara said quickly, "no. I couldn't have. I didn't ...I wasn't ...wasn't the one..." He paused, unsure of how to explain.

Tenmari blinked and then grinned. "No way."

The flush deepened.

Tenmari burst out laughing.

"**_Tenmari_**!" Gaara exclaimed, slightly hurt and frustrated by her take on the situation, "It's ..." He bit his lip, flushing deeper as Tenmari howled.

"Is it that funny?" He asked softly as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"But _Naruto_? He's so innocent and playful!"

"Not in bed."

This, of course, sent the oldest sand sibling in to another round of laughter.

For a few minutes, she was all but rolling on the floor, clutching helplessly at her sides. Gaara's only response was to invent a new shade of red to blush. When Tenmari finally wiped her eyes, turning to grin at her brother, she noticed her brother's depressed expression, soft jade eyes gazing listlessly at the floor. Tenmari's eyes widened as she recognized the expression. There was pain in Gaara's eyes, and in his posture.

Tenmari's expression turned serious, and the laughter in her eyes died at once.

"... what happened?"

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Itachi looked out the window. Things were pretty quiet now. He felt Naruto and Gaara's chakra move around on the level beneath the one he was on, along with Shikamaru's and Chouji's. Tenmari and Kankuro were also there; Iruka, however, was all of five feet west of him. The chuunin sensed Itachi's dark eyes falling on him, and turned his own soft brown-eyed gaze on the younger man.

"Hi, Itachi-san. How're you doing?"

"Get out of there," Itachi snapped.

Iruka recoiled, soft brown eyes flashing blue for a moment. The younger man shot him a glare. For a moment, their gazes held, and Itachi watched as the chuunin's eyes flickered between blue and brown. For a second, they held their blue hue, then faded back to brown. Iruka suddenly seemed thrown that the S-class missing nin was glaring at him, and he started, putting his hands up. "I-I'm sorry ... I didn't know you wanted to use this room--" Itachi felt a growl in the back of his throat.

"Let it drop. He's here; Naruto and Gaara are here now. You're not _needed_."

Iruka's blue eyes widened, and then a smile came across his face.

"So, you know?"

"Get out."

The chuunin laughed slightly, then smiled up at the younger man, soft blue swirling out of his eyes as he obliged. "'Bye for now, 'tachi-kun..."

Iruka shook his head, blinking several times. He noticed Itachi's gaze on him and got up, flustered. "Ah, oh, sorry! You wanted to use this room, right? I'll just leave ..."

A firm hand gripped his shoulder, forcing him back into his seat. "Stay," Itachi said, face emotionless, "I wanted to talk with you."

Iruka blinked. "Huh? But I thought you said--"

"I wasn't talking to you," Itachi said bluntly. Iruka looked around. "Then who **were** you talking to? There's no one else here..."

Itachi looked faintly surprised. "You don't know?"

"What do you mean?"

Itachi didn't respond. If Iruka didn't know... it would be best to show him, before he was consumed. Iruka tensed as the younger man drew closer. "Wha... what are you doing?" he asked hesitantly, Itachi stopping just short of his personal space. Itachi didn't respond immediately, taking a moment to mull it over. "It's hard to tell you exactly what's going on. I'd like your permission to **show** you."

Iruka rose an eyebrow. "What would that entail?"

"The use of my Sharingan, and nothing more," Itachi replied, emotionless as stone. "You can refuse, but it's the simplest way I can communicate to you what's going on." The brown-haired chuunin bit his lower lip, then nodded slowly.

"Alright."

In the blink of an eye, Iruka's world had stopped. Even though there wasn't anything else in the room that had been moving, Iruka could almost hear the complete and utter silence of the outside world.

"Time hasn't really stopped," came a comforting voice from nowhere, causing Iruka to jump as Itachi walked out of thin air to stand beside him, "This is Tsukiyomi, a world within the Sharingan. Here, I control time and space... here, I can show you what I was talking about." Tsukiyomi-Itachi looked at Iruka. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"I guess," Iruka murmured, Itachi's tone prompting a small ripple of fear in the back of Iruka's mind.

With a crack, a small blue blob appeared in front of them. Iruka clamped his hands over his nose violently, as the smell coming from the small thing was nauseating and powerful. "What **is** that?" he asked through his hands.

"That," Itachi said, "is what's been in you for some time now. It's called a Duro-boo."

Iruka coughed, trying to breathe in through his mouth without catching the scent, and failing. "A... a what?"

"A Duro-boo," Itachi repeated. "They're shape-shifting creatures that once populated small areas of the lands near the Cloud. Their favorite form is a disfigured rabbit with six limbs instead of four, and large ears." As he spoke, the blue blob shifted and sprouted two rabbit-like ears, which twitched and flopped about. Iruka watched in slight disgust as the light-blue blob jiggled and shook, causing the air to fill with more nauseating gasses.

"What is it doing **in** me?" he asked, confused and sick to his stomach. "And how in the world did it get there?!"

"The Duro-boo feeds on memories," Itachi explained as the blob began to expand, an small arm and a large foot extending from the blob, "When they were first discovered no one knew what they were, only that they made good pets because they didn't seem to eat anything." The shorter man watched the blob grow two more limbs, another hind leg and a longer forearm, and then continued.

"They slowly began to disappear. The villagers who had taken them in as pets thought nothing of it until a well-known scholar was found in a playground, stealing children's toys and playing with them." Itachi looked again at the blue blob, which now had three arms and two hind legs in addition to its long floppy ears. "The memories the Duro-boo feeds from are your most recent memories. You become a little forgetful if you only spend a little time around them. Those who stayed with the Duro-boo for long periods of time didn't notice it when the creatures slowly began to merge with them." He pointed to the blue blob, which was now looking more like a blue rabbit with extra long limbs. "The blob this began as is what merged with you. It's been feeding off of your memories for a period of time, how long I can't say."

"But I've never seen anything like that in my life," Iruka protested, "I would remember something that vibrantly blue!" He winced as a wave of the Duro-boo's scent rolled over him again. "Or that smelly."

"I mentioned it's a shape shifter," Itachi said casually as the blob finally stopped bouncing, "it could have been anything you spent long periods of time with, then disappeared."

Itachi watched the blue figure bob its head back and forth. Iruka's shoulders were shaking. How come Itachi was immune to its smell? The question seemed to reach Itachi, who shrugged. "I control the aspects of the Tsukiyomi - This is the Duro-boo in its truest form. It wreaks." The smell vanished. Iruka let out a breath, gasping at the now fresh air of the dream-world. Itachi only rose an eyebrow as Iruka caught a new, fresh breath.

"So," Iruka managed, "what happens if I don't know how to get rid of it?"

"If you don't get rid of it, it will consume all your memories. Your heart will forget how to beat, your lungs to breathe, and you will die."

Iruka froze.

"H-how can I get rid of it?" he asked.

Itachi shook his head. "I only know so much... I suspected something was wrong when I smelled the Duro-boo, but this is as much as I can do." The chuunin looked desperate. "Itachi--"

Without warning, the blue rabbit lunged forwards with a wailing shriek, headed for Iruka. The chuunin dodged the blue blur only barely as Itachi spoke to him. "If I guess right, your memories of this will soon be erased..."

"Then what can I do?" Iruka yelled as the blue blob turned around, looking a tad startled but eager for another attempt.

"Tell Naruto and Gaara," Itachi suggested. "I only know a little more about it, and it won't help if you forget everything."

"Why don't you tell them?" Iruka asked as he sidestepped the bounding blue Duro-boo, "You won't forget!"

"You have to tell them," Itachi said as the Duro-boo lunged again. Iruka went to dodge but found the floor had turned into something black and tar-like. The blue blob made a high-pitched wail of victory as Itachi began to fade away. Iruka called to him. "Help!" The smell was back, full-throttle. The cry choked on Iruka's lips as he clamped his hands over his nose again. Wailing happily, the Duro-boo threw itself at Iruka, who dropped to the ground to avoid being hit. The black tar-like substance sloshed around, grabbing onto Iruka's pants and shirt, tugging him down. The chuunin struggled for a moment, then was lost to the black. The Duro-boo gave an indignant squeak as it disappeared, and the world of Tsukiyomi collapsed.

"WAAAAH!"

Iruka tumbled onto the ground, arms over his head to protect himself from the Duro-boo. He gasped as he took in clean, fresh air, and realized that Itachi's illusion had stopped. For a moment, he held up his hands, wondering if he'd imagined it all.

"What are you waiting for?"

The chuunin's gaze snapped up to meet Itachi's. "Go to Naruto and Gaara. You know where they are."

Iruka held his breath for only a moment, then vacated the room at top speed.

Itachi watched him go, amused. _'But what an interesting creature,'_ he thought to himself, looking at his hands in slight wonder,_ 'that I cannot speak of it without its permission...'_ He followed Iruka curiously.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**End Author's Note: **No responses to replies right now. Thanks for reading. I'll be working on more things in the chapters to come and what not. Thanks to Jojo for re-motivating me to write this story. Hearts.


	26. Permutation

**Chapter 26: Permutation**

A/N: When I looked back on this, I was thinking, '_woah... no way I can finish this. Too many loose ends._' But then, this saying found me.

"_...when you're falling off the cliff, it's too late to wonder if there might have been a better way up the mountain._"

-Night Watch, Terry Prattchet

And so, here is Chapter 26.

...Also, don't look up the Duroboo. It's my creation, and has it origins in my head. I used no online or offline references to create it, and it is, thus, mine. :P

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Fragility was NOT equated with beauty in Gaara's eyes, despite the fact that many times it would parallel itself with pretty.

In fact, fragility was a kind of weakness.

A soft spot.

Vulnerability, and therefore, a liability.

Unnecessary.

Beautiful things were powerful, not always but sometimes useful, if not for anything else then to satisfy the material or physical desire.

Fragile things were none of this, and therefore, easily discardable.

Disposable.

Useless.

And yet fragility was decidedly NOT beautiful.

It was easy to see, to him, the difference between fragile and beautiful, because the difference was as stark as black against white, and red against white, and blue against yellow, and, well... it was so _simple_.

The expression on his face, which was at one point screwed up into a look of cross concentration, relaxed into a senseless smile.

Yes.

Gaara knew the difference between fragile and beautiful.

Iruka was fragile.

Iruka was diseased - he was dying. Gaara could smell it on the man every time he approached. And he would die, either of the darkness that was sapping his soul now, or of old age, or from battle wounds, or from caring too much about things he shouldn't, or just because that's the way life was going to be for them--he would die.

Iruka grew up in Konoha, knowing Konoha, and loving Konoha. The man they knew now hardly knew Konoha at all - he was fragile, and breaking.

Iruka cared about those that had died when Naruto and Gaara tore through the town during the Chuunin exams, he had somehow cared that Konohamaru was dead, even though he'd admitted to both boys that he hadn't known the kid well.

Iruka was fragile for many reasons, but mostly, the thing that mattered was that he was fragile.

And because of this, he was not beautiful.

Naruto was beautiful.

His eyes were a dazzling azure like the sky, vast and accepting. His hair was like a sunburst, vibrant yellow spikes that looked dangerous but were soft to the touch. His body was definitely NOT weak either.

Naruto loved him. Nothing came before the blonde. He loved Gaara and Gaara loved him. There was nothing fragile or weak about that. So, yes. Naurto was beautiful.

Naruto was strong. Naruto was unbreakable, Gaara could attest to the fact. He was strong and fast, and still had room to be careful. The blonde was everything beautiful all rolled up into a grin and a mess of blonde spikes and Naruto.

Gaara knew now why he had remembered that memory.

His gaze landed on his life-long partner, and the blonde bristled under Gaara's searing gaze, curious and slightly amused as the other boy bore down upon him with his eyes from across the room. The distance didn't lessen its impact.

"We are going to talk."

He hadn't had to say it - - but for some reason, the words dropped from his mouth like lead.

Naruto nodded.

It was all he needed to do.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

The three figures perched on different branches of the same tree. Overenthusiastic and swaying on the highest branch, and causing the two boys beneath her to regard the cracking branch with some worry, the first figure blurted out, "So they're all in there?"

Several branches below, the eldest of the three nodded, pulling several strands of white hair out of his face. "Yeah..."

"Pfft. What a load of--"

"Language."

Annoyed, she descended, only to knock the other boy out of the tree. He managed to hang on, but landed--

"AI-YA!! Zaku-baka, that was my foot!"

"Eh, you should watch where you land!"

"Bastard!"

"Wench!"

**POW.**

"Itaitaitaita-ta-ta-_Tayu_!!"

The white-haired boy put a hand to his forehead. "Now, now, children..."

"DON'T YOU CALL US THAT!"

Kimimaro looked amused. "Why not? It's clearly what you a--" The pink-haired kunoichi jumped onto his back, and he teetered a bit before carefully holding onto her legs and straightening himself. The three were quite a sight; Kimimaro calm and obviously the leader of their pack in his white and purple robe with sleeves that were too long, Tayuya growling and not sure whether she wanted to pummel her adopted brothers to a pulp or not, and Zaku, the shortest and youngest and most strong-headed. All three of them had met, years ago, in the Sound Village.

"Are you ready to find him?" asked Zaku shortly, brushing off his clothes as he stood on the branch. Tayuya stopped grinning, and Kimimaro nodded.

"We'll kill him."

"Aye... we'll avenge our leader," Tayuya agreed, bloodlust flaring in her veins as she flexed her fingers, "We'll catch us a fox and skin it alive."

Suddenly, the tree was empty.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"I've got to go find him."

Neji nodded in recognition. He knew the owner of that deep, stubborn voice. It was interesting to him, however, that the other boy's voice would cause his breathing pattern to change, could cause his pulse to drop for a moment, the same way a pebble thrown into a pond interrupts its constant cool flow. He filed the information away to question the Elder about later and advanced on what appeared to be a continuation of the same argument he'd left the two gennin arguing over.

"Sasuke, that's completely unreasonable!"

That was Haruno, Neji noted as the two came into sight. She was flanked by Ino and her other teammate, Hinata, before Sasuke, who, Neji noted with a smirk, was expertly hiding the limp in his leg from earlier.

"It's not..." Sasuke started, but Sakura cut him off.

"What about the ANBU test?! Do you remember that day? Didn't you want to at least make ANBU before--" she stopped, swallowing her own words.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Before what exactly, Sakura?" he asked.

She shook her head. "The test is tonight--you'll never make it back in time if you just run off to find them! They could be anywhere, Sasuke... please, think about it!"

"I HAVE thought about this, Sakura," the dark-haired boy insisted, "I've got to find him. I've got to find them."

"Sasuke-kun--"

"Sakura, I said I'm going! I **have** to!"

Hinata spoke up shyly, hoping to at least bring their tones down from shouts. "S-Sasuke-kun, Sakura-san is right... W-we should at least w-wait until w-we've passed our exams..." But even this soft-spoken appeal didn't soothe the flames of Sasuke's ambition.

"I have to go. It's none of your business," he hissed, glaring at the three kunoichi before him, "so stop trying to hang onto me. This is something I have to do."

"But Sasuke-kun!"

"You shouldn't bickering in the streets," Neji commented in an off-hand manner as he stepped up to their little semi-circle, giving Hinata a disapproving glance, "It's unsightly."

The party took his appearance in different ways. Sakura bit her lip, giving him a look caught between frustration and worry. Ino was predictably loud and unladylike in her word choice addressing his untimely intrusion. Hinata gave a shy nod, her gaze fluttering everywhere but directly into Neji's white eyes. And Sasuke... the black-haired boy was looking at him with a gaze that seemed pained. Neji forced his eyebrow to remain still as it itched to rise in curiosity. Ninjas were not curious. The information would find its way to him eventually. But there was something intense about the way Sasuke was looking at him that snagged his cur--his interest.

He wasn't curious about the gaze that Sasuke was giving him. Not in the least.

Ninjas were not curious.

Sasuke felt his heart drop as Neji stepped up. The other boy had been giving him the cold shoulder, and while it had been pissing him off earlier, now he just wanted to know what had gone wrong. He wished that Neji would give him some kind of hint--some kind of sign--a clue as to what his intolerable offense had been. What had happened? _Sasuke_ certainly didn't know. The Uchiha met Neji's white eyes and they stared at each other, unblinking. Their gazes were so intense that they didn't notice the three girls fall into a silence by their sides. The two were so into their silent competition that it took Sakura's 'sneeze' for them to snap out of their reserve.

"Oooh... sorry," Sakura murmured, rubbing her nose and smiling brightly. "Allergies."

"To what exactly?" Sasuke wondered under his breath, and the pink-haired girl had the decency to blush a bit.

Neji scoffed, drawing all eyes as he said smoothly, "I happened to overhear your earlier conversation... I didn't know that you'd be participating in the ANBU exams, Yamanaka."

The blonde nodded. "Everyone's grown up," she offered as if she needed a reason to participate, and Sakura detected a hint of wistfulness in her friend's voice as she grinned. "It's not like me to let them get so far ahead. I won't be the last one to try!"

"Hn." The Hyuuga's cool gaze moved unflinchingly from face to face, coming to a rest on Hinata's. Immediately the white eyes that had been carefully watching the side of her cousin's face found interest in something other than his presence and she hurried to look in that other direction. A smirk twitched at the corner of Neji's mouth.

"I was thinking about you, cousin," he said softly as Hinata's mouth twitched nervously at the sound of his too-gentle voice, reminding her very much of the viper's coy smile right before it bit you. She nodded, her gaze flickering to the area near his cheeks for just a moment before he continued. "The Elder has told me that he thinks you should not participate in tonight's course." The purple-haired girl's head bowed.

"The Elder has already confided in me his humble opinion, Neji-san," she murmured unhappily, seemingly finding great interest in the floor at her feet. Sakura was about to speak up and tell Neji that the last thing Hinata needed was this negative attitude when he kept speaking. "He has told me that you need more time and more training, but I've been thinking otherwise, cousin." Hinata looked up, her white eyes shimmering. Was Neji saying what she hoped he was saying?

"I think you **should** participate in the ANBU exam tonight."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other in mild surprise--they'd never known Neji to be openly supportive of his cousin. The pink haired girl decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and smiled brightly, despite having mixed feelings about the boy at whom her smile was directed. Besides, their purple-haired teammate needed all the positive encouragement she could get. Ino gave Hinata a slap on the back, the unexpected pat sending her a step forwards as she gave a small 'oh!' of surprise.

"See, girl? That's what we've been telling you! You can stop worrying about it and just take the exam with all you've got!"

Neji nodded as a smile spread across his soft features. Hinata looked at him in wonder and slowly a smile crept to her own gentle face. Hope dared to creep into her voice as she spoke, her hands clasped together in a pleasing gesture. "Onii-san... is... is it true? Is... that what you think?"

Neji only smiled.

"I think you should take the ANBU exam, Hinata," repeated Neji with his gentle smile, "and give it your all--put yourself fully into it and go to your maximum..."

His smile widened, but the look in his eyes was anything but gentle.

"...so that when you _fail_, you will know how hopeless of a ninja you really are."

The angelic smile never moved as Neji kept speaking with a level tone, Hinata's shimmering eyes flooding with disbelief and hurt.

"No amount of time or training will ever elevate you to the ANBU level. It's already been written that your limited ability can never become more than what it is now. You should accept the inevitable as it is." Neji turned from her. "The Elder does not want you to see that you are not capable of passing the exam. He wants to baby you and coddle your selfish dreams of an unreachable future, but I think you should take the exam so you can more closely examine this point in yourself. You should take it so you can realize it is beyond your capacity as a ninja and as a person to become an ANBU soldier."

The purple-haired girl gave a hiccup of fear as her cousin sent a verbal arrow through her spirit. She shrank back from him, her vision blurred by tears. It took a moment for Sakura and Ino to realize that they all hadn't suffered a mass hallucination, and that Neji really _had_ just said what they had hoped they hadn't heard him say. Sasuke was too disgusted to speak. His black eyes burned with an angry passion. Neji had began an indifferent pace away from them before Sakura had gathered enough of herself to protest.

"_**Neji**_! How could you say those things?" But the boy had put enough distance between them that he could pretend he hadn't heard.

"That was uncalled for," agreed Ino, standing by Hinata and offering the other girl her hand in comfort. Sasuke muttered something none of them really heard and went off after the other boy. Sakura took her teammate's shoulder and Hinata nodded numbly, too shocked by his dismissal to find words. A tear fell from her numb face and it wasn't until Sakura reached up to brush away the water left in its wake that Hinata realized she was crying. A hiccup robbed her of her remaining composure, and Ino patted her back albeit softer than before as Hinata began sobbing.

Sakura winced as something struck her heart--an ugly feeling that made her want to hide her head. Something in her chest... Shame? Anger? Whatever it was, she couldn't know that Ino was experiencing the same thing.

It took a while for the feeling to identify itself.

It wasn't the first time they'd failed to stand up to a prevailing threat.

And it wouldn't be the last.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"Gaara! Naruto!"

Both boys looked up in alarm as Iruka barreled into the room, panting and breathless and looking quite seriously freaked out.

"What's up, Iruka-chan?" Naruto asked, slightly worried that there might actually be a problem with the older man.

"It's... inside me," Iruka panted, "this thing... Itachi... he showed me. He called it... a... a Duma?" He paused, frowning. "No... It's... Hm..." His breathing evened out as he thought, Naruto and Gaara coming over to him with minimal curiosity. "Duna? Dura... Draboh? No, that's not right..."

Between the two demons, a look of slight worry was shared.

It couldn't be.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto said, a hitch of hesitation in his voice as he spoke, "the word you're looking for... is it 'Duro-boo'?"

To the boy's horror, Iruka's dulled brown eyes lit up.

"Yes! That's what he called it, and he showed me what it looked like, and how it smelled and... and..." He paused, frowning at the boys' expression.

"...what's wrong?"

At first, there was silence. Then, Naruto turned away. Iruka wondered what the problem was, and Gaara spoke up.

"How long have you known?"

"Known what?" Iruka asked.

"Known about it."

The chuunin frowned. "Itachi just told me... today." Gaara nodded, then asked a strange question.

"How long has _it_ known _you_?"

Iruka looked lost, then an answer worked its way out of his mouth.

"I'm... not sure. How should... I don't..." Uncertainty worked its way back into Iruka's words, and he stumbled over his sentences as Gaara's jade gaze remained trained on the spot where he stood.

Naruto had squatted down into his corner, a distance away from the other two, thinking. He had been thinking for a while, and it had come to him. The Duro-boo. It was burried in the back of his mind, and he didn't like what he'd dug up. From his memories meshed with the Kyuubi's, he could recall two incidents with the ugly blue things. And neither had been pleasent for the fox.

But the most peculiar thing was that, during both incidents, the blue rabbit-like beings had exhibited _supremacy_ over the demon.

'_How is that even possible?_' Naruto thought curiously, wishing the Kyuubi had told him more before they had joined.

The two half-demons looked at each other.

Even with their limited knowledge of the subject, what they knew was taboo enough. Memories from their demon counterparts had let them in on the fact that a human would be consumed within a week of its comprehension of the Duroboo's presence in his or her body--ninja or not. They would weaken, lose their memory of how to work, of how to move, and eventually, of how to breathe. Their hearts would stop beating, unable to recall the precise retractions needed to preform such activities. They would be past saving. It was a miracle that the chuunin yet stood before them. The inevitable verdict bubbled up in their throats at the same time, and before they knew the other had come to the same conclusion, they blurted it out.

"We have to take it out," they said simultaneously. Iruka's eyes widened.

"But... how..."

Naruto flexed his fingers, shook his head. "Don't ask. I'm not really sure..."

"...but we'll fix it," Gaara said calmly, arms crossed over his chest.

Iruka swallowed but nodded firmly. "Thanks, Naruto, Gaara," he said, but even as he spoke the two boys had shut their eyes and were delving into their power. A soft tug at Naruto's mind made the blonde aware of Gaara's presence. The other boy had already entered an out-of-body state, and his essence brushed against his mind gently.

"Naruto... don't underestimate what you don't understand."

The blonde nodded, eyes shut and concentration at its peak. "I know."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

It was foggy, formerly impassable.

Gaara shuddered, and felt entirely uncomfortable.

This wasn't what he had anticipated, a far cry from anything he'd imagined or expected.

Screams, he could do.

That was familiar grounds; Gaara knew screams, proudly. He knew their wretched trill, the way they tore through a hollow cold night or a blistering summer day or an empty hallway, knew the way they reverberated not just _around_ you, no matter _where_ you were even if there weren't walls to throw the sound back, but **inside** you; that's where the sound stayed. It didn't just echo, it reproduced itself within the confines of your being, ricocheted back and forth and shattered whatever solid or otherwise that happened before it. The sound alone could come from anything, it could be an instant and just as easily an eternity. The way it ripped and trilled was such music to his ears as it was an alarm to the ears of others.

Gaara could _handle_ screaming.

Could handle the bloody massacre of anything, hell! blood hadn't bothered him since ever.

Not _other_ people's blood.

_Certainly_ not other people's blood.

Couldn't care less about decapitation, bodies being dismantled in the most brutal ways of a limb or two; heck, isn't that a spleen? What an odd color for anything that comes from something so fleshy peach-colored. Didn't mind seeing a loose tongue or eyeball or gall bladder. Never bothered him at all to look at a pile of flesh and blood and bones and everything that used to make up human bodies - nope. It was like looking at a grassy field, or the sky, or the inside of a milk carton, or an empty pocky carton. Do you flinch or wince or feel ill at the sight? Gaara certainly doesn't - doesn't feel a thing, not when he looks at a field, or the sky, or milk cartons, or empty eye sockets.

Gaara, in or out of his element, could _handle_ blood.

It wasn't about pride or gusto or anything at all.

It just wasn't something that bothered him, like it bothered normal people (he never considered himself normal; he wasn't).

Gaara could do screams and blood, and that was exactly the problem.

This was something **else**.

There were no screams inside Iruka's head. There was only fogginess, and something stinky. Something that really _wreaked_. The stench was so overwhelmingly powerful and thick in the air that both he and Naruto winced and allowed some of their chakra to surround their bodies. The odor was thick enough so that it flowed in the air around the chakra which kept the stench from entering either boy's nostrils.

"Where **is** it?"

Gaara didn't open his mouth to speak; no way that putrid odor was getting in through his mouth, he wouldn't give it the chance.

_'Dunno... call it out._'

Reaching into his chakra reserves, the air around Gaara flickered from blue to a sickly yellow-green, Naruto's flashing a royal purple.

In the fog, something stirred.

The boys were on the defensive immeditally--hands balled into fists, muscles tensing, teeth clenching. For an instant, they felt a trickle of anticipation.

Crawling on the ground was an unsightly blue pile, and as it drew nearer, the stench intensified. Both boys gripped their noses now with a free hand. Their heightened sense of smell magnified the nauseating odor. Naruto let out a threatening snarl, his fingernails merging into claws and his chakra flickering an angry violet in the foggy terrain. Gaara cautiously kept a hand over his nose and bristled anxiously as the creature drew closer. The blue-colored shape-shifter picked its head up off what seemed to be the floor of Iruka's mind and grinned a many-toothed grin at the two demon boys.

"**Welcome**."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Of the many things that composed the enigmatic Uchiha Itachi, curiosity was not present.

The black-haired boy was convinced that just about everything he needed to know had already congregated in his mind; a veritable melange of data lay in wait for its opportunity to be of use. Itachi was not curious. It was beneath him--certainly, beneath any well-to-do ninja.

A ninja was not curious. Sometimes slightly interested, but never curious.

It was the momentary slip of this fact from his mind that allowed him to pause on his way past the room where Chouji and Shikamaru were being housed at the sounds of tinkering and sparks. He recalled, albeit briefly, the faint scratching of something against a rough substance, and the hiss and flicker from under the doorway. For a moment, Itachi forgot that ninjas were not curious, and innocently began to open the door to discover the source of the alien noise.

Curiosity was unbecoming to Itachi. Especially not when it nearly got his face blown off by a stream of fire.

It took a moment for him to regain his posture, unsure if the pounding sensation had originated in his chest or his eardrums; either way, the thrumming moved upwards and he pressed two fingers to his temple in a late attempt to prevent the migraine. He kept his eyes shut for a moment, then opened the crimson-hued orbs to examine what could've become of him. The wall next to him now sported a hole spanning nearly the height of the wall, the circumference still smoking, and its periphery singed from the flames.

One of Itachi's eyes twitched.

The two ninja inside were too busy being shocked to realize they had almost killed the infamous Uchiha Itachi, and the aforementioned man was satisfied making a quick retreat, saving them the trouble of relearning how to operate their minds and himself the trouble of looking caught off-guard. When Shikamaru finally took notice of the too-soft sound of retreating feet, he shook his head.

"Ninjas are not curious," he muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing, Chouji. Maa, and now we've got to fix this wall somehow... troublesome..."

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"**Welcome.**"

Neither boy was pleased with the presence of the Duroboo; it made them entirely uncomfortable. For some unexplained reason, both had the urge to tear the triangle-shaped eyes right out of the rabbit's head... yet they found themselves unable to move. Naruto's eye twitched at the realization.

"**Ah**," intoned the blue blob as it caught sight of the boy's internal struggle to attempt to move, "**Allow me to enlighten you on your dilemma**."

"**You are here now... here, where I control what may be, and what may not. You have come here, to my domain... this is why you cannot move.**"

Gaara allowed an intrigued expression to cross his face. "...so you're saying you have control over us here?" he asked, his voice dangerously soft. The Duroboo's response was to laugh, a sick hacking sound that sounded more like choking than laughter.

"**I wouldn't try to be a bother**," gurgled the blue rabbit with a hint of amusement, "**I make the rules in this domain... you are here, and you must abide, or cease to be here... or anywhere else**."

Naruto and Gaara looked unconvinced. "I don't care what you're talking about," Naruto said, his voice level even as his chakra flickered menacingly around him, "We just want you to go away."

The rabbit-shaped figure merely flopped over backwards and issued a harsh laugh.

"**Hah! Why should I go? You have come to me... to my domain... where I make the rules... here, where you are **_**powerless**_"

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt his chakra disappear around him. At the same time, Gaara's chakra dissipated. The sphere of chakra that they had been producing around themselves vanished without reason, leaving them open to an unsuspected onslaught of the nauseating stench of the Duroboo. Both boys choked violently upon their next breath, fighting a surge of nausea brought on by the invasion of the horrid odor coming from the blue rabbit-shaped figure. The Duroboo, flopping back and forth as if playing in the wind, didn't seem to notice the boy's pained expressions as they coughed and gasped, unable to move their hands to their mouthes or noses fast enough--not that the filter of a chakraless hand would have been of much use.

The blonde let out a frustrated sound, attempting desperately to summon the strength he knew he possessed. The familiar ebb and flow of chakra didn't move--in fact, it felt as if the great sea of power within him had been frozen solid, a giant untappable block of ice. Gaara was experiencing a similar sensation, giving the blue rabbit an icy glare.

"What did you _do_?" he hissed.

"**I made a rule**," said the Duroboo with little actual interest as it flopped forwards and back again, "**Here, in my domain... I may make any rule I wish, and it shall be.**"

"But how can you do that?" asked Naruto through his clenched hands, eyes tearing up from the hideous smell. "That's... impossible!"

The blue rabbit stopped flopping around playfully like a used blue rag and gave the two boys an eerie smile.

"**I am... a being that cannot fully exist... in your plane,**" it explained with a building sense of anticipation, "**but I may bend the rules of your reality as I wish... I am not as you are. I am different than you... I cannot truly exist in your world, but in this place... in my domain, you cannot fully exist--and so I may play with you... as I will.**"

With that, the Duroboo sprang at the red-haired boy, fangs barred and triangle-shaped eyes growing wider on its face.

Gaara clenched his fist, his eyes narrowing as it finally came over him.

The strange sensation of something horribly wrong that had filled his gut since the arrival of the others was finally identified as the blue creature flung itself at him. It was in that split second that the boy came up with the realization of what it was that had been putting him on edge, the feeling that had been confusing him, confounding his ability to function the way he was supposed to.

Just as this creature was, they were different.

Sure, they had become one with their demons, absorbing powers beyond the imagination, but in part, they had never been on par with the rest of the human race.

Something separated them from the rest. He understood fully now. Something made them different, made them special, made all the rest of everyone not.

They stood alone.

Suddenly, the intense immobility of the redhead was lifted and he could shift his feet. Backing away from the Duroboo, the redhead rose a hand and called to his power. The energy shifted in his being, and somehow Gaara managed to produce a flicker of yellow-green. But it didn't stop there. The redhead concentrated on gathering an amount of raw chakra in his hand level to his shoulder, the evil teal energy cackling in the murky air. This made the blue rabbit-creature pause, seemingly frozen in time as it stared down the energy that was concentrating into Gaara's palm.

Its gaze was different now -- something had changed. The Duroboo could feel something shifting. The tables were turning.

The teal-eyed boy rose his hand slowly above his head, moving the limb as if was new and needed breaking in before proper usage. Chakra continued to concentrate in that one sphere, the energy incredibly immense and dense. A small bubble of stench-free air had formed around the redhead as the space around him pulsed with raw energy.

Naruto watched in silence.

The Duroboo, on the other hand, was not so quiet. "**Wha... what do you mean to do**?" It gurgled, seemingly regaining the ability to move, albeit sluggishly, "**That energy... it cannot exist... it will obliterate this place**!"

Violet eyes watched the scene without much concern. This time, the energy didn't disappear--instead, it continued to concentrate in one place. The rabbit creature seemed unable to move out of its spot, and Gaara's gaze finally moved to meet its own. The Duroboo was writhing in slow-motion now and its limbs were beginning to hiss and sweat; it was as if it was boiling from the inside out. Gaara's teal eyes were devoid of emotion.

"I understand that," he said, the energy in his palm doubling as he took a step forwards.

Gurgling, the blue-rabbit demon rolled its head around on its shoulders and snapped its teeth. It appeared that the more Gaara was able to break the rule set down by the blue demon, the weaker it became. Fascinated by the rare turn of events, Naruto could only watch. Though he could feel his chakra trapped within him like some condensed frozen block of energy, he couldn't tap into it the normal way. Pulling the energy out as he was use to doing was producing a whole lot of nothing. But if Gaara could do it, why couldn't he? The blonde's eyes narrowed in thought as energy continued to gather in his partner's palm. '_Why is Gaara different_?' he asked himself, '_Aren't we the same?_' At that moment, his eyes looked down to his clenched fists, and his breath caught in his throat.

'_Aren't we different together?_'

It was as if the fog had lifted around him. He breathed in a fresh breath, his vibrant blue and purple eyes blinking as his hands suddenly clenched and unclenched. His chest expanded freely as he drew in air, and he realized that somehow he, too, had broken out of the law that had kept them bound and motionless. It was a wonder he would think on later as the Duroboo began spinning in place, emitting a shrill noise that resembled a wail.

The sound put a smirk on Gaara's face.

"**Noo... no, this cannot be! I rule this place! **_**I**_**, not you! Noo...**" Its gaze landed on Gaara, and it gurgled despretly.

"**You... you are **_**nothing**_"

Suddenly, Gaara vanished, seemingly into nothing. The Duroboo threw its heavy head around, unable to locate the threat. Naruto stared in horror at the emptiness by his side, a hiccup of fear riviting him to the spot where he stood.

A heavy silence filled the foggy chamber, and the Duroboo began to laugh.

Flickering into existence behind it, Gaara calmly swiped his chakra-filled palm across the area where the Duroboo's head was. In the wake of the crackling teal energy was a vibrant blue smear, which hissed as it transformed into a hideous gas. The remainder of the Duroboo's body fell to the ground with a dull thud, its four arms limp at its twitching sides.

The still-present globe of chakra was banished with a wave of Gaara's hand.

The plane that they were in wobbled, white and gray extremities becoming unsteady and, with a jolt, the two boys returned to their physical bodies.

Naruto looked at Gaara as Iruka doubled over on the ground, lay crumpled in a heap of himself.

"We'll have to remove them."

"Have Itachi do it," said Gaara as he slumped to the ground next to Iruka, holding his wrist in his hand, "If I move anymore, I'll break."

A clone materialized next to the blonde. It hefted Iruka up on its shoulder effortlessly and walked out towards the doorway, and the original sat down next to the redhead, resting his own golden crown on Gaara's shoulder, the pale boy's chin resting then on Naruto's head. The two inhaled deeply, their chakra stirring restlessly.

Something was different now.

Something had changed again--something like before, when they merged.

Somehow, this was much different.

Change had come.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

I'm not sure when the next chapter will be--but it will be.

Eventually.

Thanks for those of you being so paitent and still reading. : You're super.

DJ


	27. The Calm

**Chapter 27: The Calm**

Wonderful to be back.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"...'_I will not fear the dark places of the world, for in those shadows lurk the downtrodden and the outcast, those with hearts that have been scalded by the light. And I will pass into shadow, and they will see they are not alone'_."

The red head looked up, intrigued by his partner's words. Since their last episode, Naruto and he had kept a certain silence between them. Words had not been needed, but they wouldn't have been unwelcome. Gaara was somewhat grateful to hear something out of his normally exuberant lover, but his choice of words was interesting to say the least.

Naruto simply lay on the floor beside him, a place from which he had not moved in nearly sixteen hours.

After their experience with the Duroboo, Gaara had found himself exhausted. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Just unexpected. He'd used a lot of his energy before, but never such a tremendous amount in such a condensed way... The feeling had left him very empty, and he realized only just before he felt the energy drain that he might not want to be alone once it was all gone. It had occurred to Gaara shortly thereafter that Naruto was unwilling to leave his side so long as Gaara needed to recover his energy. The redhead appreciated the stupid (affectionately stubborn) support. Slowly, Gaara had felt his chakra reserves refilling, and it was a strange sensation. It kind of felt like being poured full of water from _inside_, feeling the cool ripples of energy rolling over his pale body and throughout. It had taken up more than half of the night that they were now encompassed in and was probably going to take up some of the morning that they were beginning to get into. He flexed his hands, feeling muscles tense and then relax, jade-yellow eyes boring holes into the ceiling. His power returning, Gaara glanced over at Naruto, who, after another moment of silence, spoke again.

"...'_Those who have turned to light and have found themselves unwelcome, those who have lost all hope, those who have known nothing else; these will gather to the dark places of the world. And I will pass into that shadow, and they will see they are not alone_'."

Stretching out beside Naruto, Gaara blinked and found that even though the blonde next to him hadn't moved, a book was now open above his head, as if someone had flipped to a specific chapter and then placed the text down on the floor above Naruto's head. He wondered briefly when it had gotten there.

"...'_In the darkness, I will find the lost and despairing--and in the darkness I will gather them home'_."

With this, Naruto got up off his back and twisted his torso to shut the book. "It's an interesting concept, but I really don't like depressed people." He gave the red novel a gentle push, sending it sailing all the way to the other side of the room. There, a small fox crept out from behind a cabinet and caught it in its jaws. Naruto watched it as it scrambled up the bookshelf to put the volume away.

"Itachi and the others are gone."

Gaara continued to stretch out on the floor, testing his sore muscles, jade-yellow eyes following the fox. So that's how the book had gotten there.

"But it is an interesting concept..."

His partner turned about languidly, allowing his blonde locks to shadow sharp blue-violet eyes, creating a deliciously dangerous look. Gaara sat up, listening.

"...I wonder who lurks in the dark corners of the world?"

The red head reached out and stroked Naruto's cheek with a warm hand. The thin line of his non-smile was slowly curving upwards into what would become a half-smirk.

**..oo00oo..**

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In a dark corner of the world sat two boys in the midst of the earliest morning.

The tension between them was almost gone. In the midst of the test, he'd gotten careless. He had somehow gotten three (not two, not one, but THREE) proctors on his trail, and he'd over-done it a bit with his last katon jutsu. Escape had been looking somewhat hopeless. The others had nearly closed in when Sasuke made a risky escape right over their heads. One of them had been quick enough to get his hands on some kind of weapon and had nailed him in the leg, blood coloring the bark as Sasuke hissed, but he took off instinctively in the opposite direction. He needed a more open area. A confrontation could jeopardize his chances at passing, but it was the situation he would be most comfortable with.

He'd shot past Sakura, who drew off one proctor with a gasp of surprise at his wound, the other two keeping close behind. When he thought he'd gotten them far enough away, he was surprised as hell to meet up with another test candidate. His surprise cost him, though, and the proctors closing in had the chance to shower both boys in shuriken. Neji managed some incredibly unbelievable dodge while kicking Sasuke square in the chest, sending him into a pretty well-hidden crook in a tree. He'd disappeared moments later and it took all of Sasuke's self-control not to gasp when the other boy pressed their bodies together in the seclusion of the hidden corner. The sudden warmth of their proximity nearly coaxed a surprised note out of him.

Then the proctors ran by in the tree tops, pursuing the bunshin that Neji had created as a distraction.

They had been together in absolute silence, Sasuke not breathing with his back against the harsh knots of the tree's roots and Neji pressed against his chest. And when Neji pulled away, Sasuke didn't reach out to hold on. It had been the necessity of survival, a move that had been mutually beneficial. It had nothing to do with the lurking questions he didn't dare raise, or the silent black-eyed gazes that asked without words. It had been a saving move for both of them, nothing more. And Neji was somewhat pleased to see that Sasuke understood that.

Once Neji was sure the proctors had gone, successfully distracted with chasing the clones he'd made, he used his Byakugan to double-check that the area was not going to be approached for a while, and then began to take out medicinal tape and gauze, and Sasuke was oddly compliant as the other boy stitched up the wound in his leg with a brisk efficiency.

"You know, eventually you're going to tell me what the hell's wrong with you," Sasuke muttered.

The other gennin just looked at him with a blank gaze, sitting against the trunk of the tree and wiping the blood off his jaw. Apparently he hadn't gotten through his portion of the test unscathed either. The ANBU test was still underway, and though Neji was sure that he still had a fighting chance, he seriously doubted that either Hinata or Yamanaka would finish, considering the condition that he'd seen them in. But there was room for extraordinary results, as that was what he'd thought of Sakura two hours ago. Apparently she was still in the running. As he thought, his hands worked bandaging the wound in Sasuke's right leg, smooth pale fingers working with gauze and tape. The bleeding wasn't too bad now.

Sasuke watched him, his mouth hidden behind the high collar of his navy blue shirt.

"Why did you help me?"

The Hyuuga's fingers paused for only a moment. Sasuke's dark black eyes watched Neji expectantly.

"You could've let me sink back there." It was probably true. Neji managed a half-sneer. "Maybe I wanted you to owe me one."

"Maybe you didn't want me to get hurt."

Neji snorted. "And you're so incapable of dodging that you would've been killed by those shuriken?"

"Shh," Sasuke murmured, dark eyes glistening and sliding side to side suspiciously, "They'll find us."

The other boy almost laughed. "I don't need to hide from anyone, Uchiha--"

Suddenly they were chest to chest again, and Neji heard the near-imperceptible fall of feet. Sasuke's arms were pressing them together, and in the darkness Neji nearly stopped breathing. Their argument cut short, Neji was suddenly uncertain. The other boy's ear was pressed against the side of his head and he felt the other boy's chest rise slowly up against his own. His own hands were unsure of what to do, now that it was him being clutched down. Sasuke's body was still as the tree against which he was pressed. Neji mimicked the stillness, listening intently for the passing of feet uncomfortably close to the location they were hidden in.

The voices of the proctors carried just far enough to catch the unimportant end of their conversation. Neji didn't hear a word of it as Sasuke's grip on him shifted. One arm moved lower to rest against the back of Neji's waist and the other reached across his back to rest at the base of his neck. Fingertips brushed the roots of his hair at the base of his neck, and Neji felt his ears twitch slightly. It wasn't a life-or-death grip. It was certainly tender--too tender for Neji's liking.

Listening carefully, Neji activated his Byakugan. The two proctors had caught sight of some other ninja and disappeared.

And Sasuke didn't let go.

Moving his body in an effort to get up, Neji met the gentle resistance of Sasuke's arms. "Wait," he murmured.

"The proctors are gone," Neji observed, "We have other things to accomplish..." He stopped as Sasuke buried his forehead against Neji's shoulder.

"Just... let me stay like this for a while."

"Uchiha--"

"Please."

Maybe it was the hint of wistfulness in Sasuke's voice that made Neji pause. Maybe it was the way Sasuke's arms pulled him closer, or the shuddering breath that gusted along Neji's exposed neck. Maybe it was the sudden pressure in his chest. Maybe it was some kind of madness that captured him and whisked his words of protest away.

So he was still in Sasuke's grip.

But he didn't want to lull the other boy into any false sense that Neji was...

...was...

Pale eyes flashed in the darkness, and Neji frowned.

...but what _was_...? what _was_ he...

Something uncomfortable was bubbling up in the back of his mind and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what it was.

"This isn't the place, Sasuke," he murmured. He didn't push the other boy away, though.

And Sasuke knew Neji was right. The world hadn't stopped for them--the illusion of security was shattered by the patter of footsteps coupled with the rocking boom of a nearby explosion. Unlooping his arms from the other boy, Sasuke allowed Neji to retreat from the embrace, following him with a hard to read black gaze. The Hyuuga gave Sasuke a moment more of his company and then took off.

Sasuke sat in the hollow of the tree, his back against the knots of wood and the smell of warm earth everywhere, and shut his eyes.

He hadn't pushed away.

That had been enough.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

A pair of large amber eyes regarded the immense building with something like awe. She wasn't quite sure whether it existed or not, due to the fact that it seemed to be wobbling. '_...'s not hot enough to be a mirage_,' she thought, her eyes narrowing slightly and focusing. The building continued to wobble even more, shimmering in and out of focus carefully. '_Definitely genjutsu_,' she affirmed, taking out her flute and giving it a whirl. It whistled as she spun it, and then she twisted it into her hands and played.

The two boys beside her walked forwards, mindful of the illusion flickering in and out of existence.

It seemed too easy. They'd found the damn place, just like that. They'd gotten close to Konoha and it had just put itself in their path. After years of training in secret, of avoiding confrontation and keeping their heads low, they'd finally tracked the bastards down. Kimimaro had wanted to be cautious and Zaku had just wanted to burst in, demanding revenge for the death of their mentor. The man who'd taken them in, who'd reached out to them when darkness had pulled them down to the bottom of the world and nearly drowned them alive. Tayuya recalled it well--the report of the death of Orochimaru. It had hit home like a cannon, impossible to believe and leaving you hard-pressed to breathe. There was confusion and deceit in the wake of that news. She had been one of many who had been devastated--of course, there had been those that were overjoyed. Several of them had just not cared either way. Mixed reactions had been expected, she supposed, but then again, who would've expected the legendary Sannin to die so suddenly... let alone be murdered. Her thoughts were interrupted by a pair of brown and red foxes which loped out of the nearby bushes, skidding to a halt in front of the illusion. Tayuya figured they looked normal enough, but that was all the more reason to be suspicious of them, right? She stopped walking forwards and kept her hands on her flute, keeping a bitter amber-eyed gaze on them. They swished their tails playfully at first, but then their ears flattened when the three didn't react. Zaku rose a hand aimed at each fox, his gaze hard and his stance steady. Tayuya swung one arm in a wide arc and with her other hand drew three shuriken. Beside her, Kimimaro frowned and searched the perimeter of their group with a sharp glare. "It's just these two," he said, sure that they were the only obstacles between them and the illusion. Tayuya's hard glare met the dark amber gazes of the two dog-sized foxes, and she took a step forward. Kimimaro's lips fell open to tell her to think twice when it hit.

A look of shock fell over all three of the teenager's faces as they realized that the subtle rumble of warmth that had just crested over them like a wave of warm air was just a fraction of someone's excess chakra.

Tayuya bit out a curse.

"We gotta go," she muttered darkly, putting the flute away with a fluid motion and beating a hot retreat at a speed that surprised the other two members of their group. The two foxes darted off in different directions and Zaku leapt to follow the pink-haired girl. "Oi, oi! Wait up! What happened? Why the hell're we running?"

Tayuya and Kimimaro weren't listening, instead keeping their eyes on the forest around them. "Didn't you feel it? That energy..."

Zaku realized that Tayuya wasn't angry but afraid. "Hey... hey! What the hell happened back there? It was just some freaky--"

"It was their chakra," Kimimaro said icily, "Or couldn't you tell?" Zaku was about to protest hotly that he very well could tell when he realized that the other boy was in the same condition as Tayuya.

"It was tremendous."

Zaku fell silent as he followed the other two. He knew that of the three he was the weakest, and Kimimaro was probably the strongest... so if he was so badly shaken up... The former sound-nin cursed as they fled. 'How are they so much stronger than us? After all we've done to improve ourselves... How can they be so much more powerful?'

From high above their heads, a pair of uninterested jade eyes watched the trio fleeing. It had been interesting to observe their reactions to the trickle of chakra he'd told Naruto to let loose, and even more interesting to see the frustration written across their faces when they realized how weak they really were. Reflecting on his recent games, Gaara estimated he was pretty much recovered from the chakra-depleting incident with the Duroboo, which meant he didn't have to worry if he wanted to be kind of careless with these new intruders.

It wouldn't be very entertaining... but he supposed he could play with them.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

"We have to attack."

There was a general mixed murmuring, as Sasuke expected. The blunt, purely offensive statement sent the room into a quiet hush of murmurs of both agreement and disagreement. Sitting at the head of the table with Shizune at her side, the Fifth Hokage nodded to herself, merely listening now to the ideas and proposals of the ninja she ruled. Tsunade had handed the floor to her subordinates, to the faces young and old that would eventually be facing the consequences of the path they collectively chose to take today, and it was to the few sitting at the table with her that she had entrusted the deciding power. They would decide whether or not Konoha would fight or fall to the powers of two combined monsters.

"It's all we can do," agreed one chuunin, speaking from behind the first speaker, "Even if we cannot defeat them, we must try. For our friends and family... for this country."

More agreement from the crowd around the table. Sasuke kept silent, arms folded over his chest and expression carefully blank. To his left, Sakura shook her head. "It's all trouble..." To his right, Kiba nodded. "Whatever we do, we'll have to deal with them eventually. I say we take them out now, while we have the organized effort."

"We have to try," repeated Asuma, crushing the remains of a smoking butt in his hand and letting the ashes hiss against the flesh of his palm, "There's no doubt about it--the possibility of death approaches certainty, but if it could be done, how could we weigh the costs in human life against the benefit? The Fourth did it, how could we call ourselves Konoha ninja if we didn't even try?"

Asuma's words seemed to weigh the crowd in favor of attacking as the general murmur swayed that way. More voices spoke up, among them Kurenai's and Anko's, and several others. Chuunins and anxious jounins hopeful to avoid disaster, but at the same time wary of the last attack that had been made on the two half-demons.

"But we marched right up and announced ourselves," argued one voice, "If this time we used stealth--"

"Against demons? What kind of stealth could hide us from their supernatural senses?"

"Hmph. Don't you know? Even animals can be fooled by ninjutsu and genjutsu..."

"I didn't say it was impossible--"

"It certainly seems like it is--"

"But they're so strong. Do you even remember how many ANBU came back from that mission--"

"Of course I do. Too few."

"Confucius once said, 'The wise do not approach the dangerous.' Perhaps this is a wise decision," muttered Shino, speaking up for the first time during the entire meeting. The room grew strangely quiet at this input, eyes flickering around the room, searching for something that no one was certain even existed.

Could they really hope to do what the Fourth had accomplished?

Tsunade could have laughed.

It felt as if the room was on a delicate needle, and that the slightest breath in either direction would tilt it violently the wrong direction, sending the contents to spill over the edge and sully the floor beneath. Trepidation ran thick through those gathered, even behind the careful calm of the Uchiha heir's mask. Everyone had an opinion, but they were getting nowhere. Even now, there were mutterings for action and against it, and arguments were beginning.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Tsunade cut in through the mutterings and mumblings, "Need I remind you that this is a council of WAR?" Silence reigned, and then Tsunade nodded. "Please do not forget that we must reach a consensus TODAY, preferably sooner than later. Both options we arrive at require considerable amount of work--to fight or flee."

There was some dissatisfied mutterings about the term 'fleeing', but Shizune hit the table and half-exploded.

"It is what it is! Or can you tell me what you would call it otherwise? What else would you call evacuating the village?! What else could you call turning tail and not attacking? Hiding? Retreating? Fleeing!" Tsunade put a hand on her shoulder and she bit her lip, sitting. The calmer but slightly aggravated voice of their Hokage cut through the settled silence. "If we do decide to not attack today, it doesn't mean we're any less noble, brave, or powerful ninjas. Retreat has been chosen more than once as the tactical move in war... do not be afraid to decide on it now."

One anxious ninja spoke up as she finished, "But how can we just abandon the village to those monsters?"

"It is **not** abandon!" Tsunade barked, then, to the surprise of everyone that knew her, she took her seat and gestured for them to continue. The debate was slightly stunted but continued slowly.

"What a waste of time."

Sasuke's attention was suddenly recaptured as the white-eyed boy spoke up, also capturing the room's undivided attention with his words. Beside Neji, Hinata looked nervous but said nothing as Neji spoke.

"This meeting has no other purpose than to allow us the opportunity to exchange meaningless worries or convictions."

"Neji," whispered Hinata softly, but perhaps it was too soft, or Neji just ignored her.

"What good is it to speculate? Actions beget results." His hard white gaze fell on Tsunade and Shizune. "No offense, Hokage-sama, but why don't you issue the order, to either retreat or attack, rather than losing time with this fickle meeting?"

There were mixed murmurs to this as well, but Tsunade half-smirked and held up a hand to cut them off. "How old do you imagine I am, Hyuuga-kun?"

A very personal question in front of a very public audience? Neji was tempted not to reply, but with the eyes focused on him and Tsunade, it was impossible to do otherwise. "I have never cared to fathom, Hokage-sama," he murmured gently but loud enough to carry. The blonde's face filled with the other half of her forming smirk.

"Older than you by your life span almost thrice over," she offered in the wake of the silence she'd just created, allowing the words to ring clearly in the room, "I'm just about as outdated as the mail system." Shizune looked concerned beside her but remained silent, listening. Every ear in the room listened curiously to what their Hokage had to say.

Neji seemed put off by the way the conversation had turned, and only a few others besides Sasuke and Hinata noticed because the only clue to his attitude was the slight pull of his facial muscles back a touch. His true expression was carefully hidden. Tsunade's was otherwise openly exposed.

"I'm old, Neji-kun," continued Tsunade, resting her cheek in a palm and gesturing around the room to various aged figures, "As are many here today. Our ideas... my ideas... are those of the past. In the past, I've made many decisions..." She paused, then dropped her hand. "...I've also made a few speeches, none of which have turned out well. So, in short, Neji-kun, the reason why I'm letting you all here throw around the issue and mutter and mumble about it is because I want you to get the experience."

She shrugged. "Not everyone gets to decide whether or not we go to war."

Shizune looked at the blonde, wondering if her genjutsu had dropped just a fraction. In that moment, Tsunade had looked oddly tired and...

And then she grinned. "And since this will either save our hides or get us all killed, I thought the decision should rest on all our heads, and not just mine."

There was mixed murmuring at this, and the conversation resumed at a bearable volume. Sasuke stood up though, offering his chair at the table to chuunin. A curious white-eyed gaze followed him as he stood and slipped seamlessly into the crowd. Several voices echoed in his ears as he left, none of them directed at him except a single soft-spoken call. The dark-eyed boy turned back to acknowledge Hinata's gentle call with a nod, not looking at the boy beside her as he turned to leave the room. Sakura counted slowly in her mind, half-listening to the conversation and half watching the members of Konoha discuss their path towards the future, and hid a smile when after exactly two minutes Neji got up to follow Sasuke out of the room.

She felt hopeful and a little swell of happiness rose in her chest. '_I hope things go well,_' she thought as she rose a hand to put her points on the table for others to consider, taking both sides of the argument and agreeing with bits of them. "As it stands, we should think about both increasing our defenses in Konoha and potential mass mobilization. There are countries that would be willing to assist us in a confrontation, should we choose to..."

The door shut behind him, and he looked down the hall with a blank stare, storing the beginning of Sakura's conversation for reference in some part of his mind. Walking down the empty hall, he looked for signs of where Sasuke had gone, smirking to himself as he found none. He was a ninja, after all. But what kind of ninja could Neji call himself if he couldn't locate where the other boy had gotten to? Contemplating mundane methods of searching for all of an instant, the Hyuuga member activated his Byakugan and found the other boy had merely gone up to the roof. Deactivating the technique, he made his way leisurely to the stairs and began a slow ascent, mulling over questions. Why _had_ he saved Sasuke during the test? He could have let the other boy confront the three proctors. His injury hadn't even been substantial, nothing a little tape and gauze couldn't fix for the moment. Why did the other boy act so strangely around him? Nearly stepping into Neji's personal space, assuming they were on good terms, even Sakura thought there had been something between them. There was something about the whole situation that just didn't add up. And then there was the possibility that Sasuke was acting on a one-sided infatuation, but shouldn't Neji at least remember Sasuke's actions being forward towards him from the past?...

Before he could answer half of the questions he'd asked himself, he was on the roof, shutting the door just loudly enough to catch the other boy's attention.

"Oh."

Oh? Neji hadn't come up here for an 'Oh'. Tucking a stray strand of dark brown back behind his ear, Neji gave the new ANBU-member a pointed look. "Oh? Is that all I get for saving your ass during the test?" Sasuke rose an eyebrow and if Neji didn't know better, he would've thought that the boy was _smirking_ at him behind that high blue collar.

"It's nice to see you're thinking about my ass again."

Neji made a face.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you to stop talking like that around me." The Uchiha shifted slightly, adopting a more attentive stance, and Neji took the chance to speak his mind. "I'd like it if you discontinued your advances on me."

The look on the visible part of Sasuke's face shifted.

"If that's all you came up here to say, you can leave," he said cooly, and Neji was surprised when Sasuke turned away to face the sky again.

Just like that. He was surprised that it had been that easy, but more surprised that a part of him seemed to have been expecting some other kind of reaction than what he'd gotten.

Expecting what, exactly? A little more resistance... perhaps a little resentment?

But why?

'_These expectations are conclusive with Sakura's theory_,' Neji thought, beginning to feel that tug of uncertainty at the back of his mind, '_But_...'

The dark-haired Uchiha didn't turn around to address him as he spoke. "You still here? I thought you'd be interested in what was going on back there."

Neji felt his eye twitch in irritation, and he forced himself to open the door behind him and start down the stairs, not looking back. He was sure that Sauske would still be facing the sky, dark brooding eyes just visible through loose deep black-blue locks, hands in his pockets and head tilted so that his chin rose above his collar, an undaunted expression exposed to the broad sky.

The picture was so clear in his mind that he jumped when he realized he wasn't seeing it for real, but instead still heading down the stairwell to return to the meeting.

Something in him clicked.

All the unanswered questions and curiosities had led him in his mind to a single decision. He'd deal with it as soon as possible--but for now, he headed back to the meeting, his expression back to a calculated calm.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**A/N:** Whew. I think that's enough for now, don't you? Thanks for reviewing... and I promise there's more yet to come. Next chapter is pretty much LOTS of Naruto and Gaara and more about their demons. The meaning of 'permutation' really comes into play, in as many senses of the word as I could think of. Thanks for reading, and for waiting for me to not be lazy. I guess I can still write, when I put my mind to it.

( :

**Next Chapter... 'The Storm'... Coming Soon. **


	28. Instant Romance

**Chapter 28: Instant Romance**

I do hate reading about how stories give characters amazing powers and then they're never used. Here I use Naruto and Gaara's powers a bit excessively, maybe. ^ ^ Also reintroducing characters long in sleep (otherwise known as unused). Hope you enjoy and apologies to my loyal and new readers for the wait between this chapter and the last, as always.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

It happened to be a Monday.

In the back of his mind, he recalled briefly that Mondays were free ramen days at the ramen stand. But only briefly.

The two boys were on a long low valley between two hills and the sun had just begun to creep out to warm them. Naruto was cracking his back and knuckles, yawning with his mouth open wide enough to stick in both fists. His sunshine yellow locks waved only slightly with the motion of his own movement for there was no wind. Subsequently, the early hours of the morning had been rather cool but not cold in the absence of the sun.

Then again, there had been enough to do to keep both boys moving and warm, so it hadn't mattered much.

Beside him, Gaara was combing the blood and long strands of dark pink hair out of his sand, sitting indian style on the dew-laced morning grass with only a pair of knee-length shorts on. He'd long ago cleaned their blood from his pale skin and was now at the very end of removing the last of their remains from his sand.

Nothing except the bits and pieces that fell from Gaara's sand remained of the three intruders.

They'd seen to that.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

Quite suddenly, Naruto and Gaara had wanted him and all the others gone.

It was a thing of curiosity, for sure, but Itachi's survival instinct had clearly said getting further away from them when they wanted to be alone was a good thing.

And ninjas were _**not**_ curious.

And so the entire party left as soon as it had arrived, including Chouji, Shikamaru, Iruka, Temari, Kankuro, and himself. They traveled together as a group for a while before splitting up. The Sand duo decided to return to Suna for a while and left in the direction of the deserts. The remaining four traveled onwards to Konoha, a long and lonely trail. Once back, they'd gone their separate ways; Chouji and Shikamaru to the Academy, Iruka to his home, and Itachi to the Hatake estate. It had been a long walk and he hadn't seen head or hide of any of the others that had left the Fortress since. The night had been half-spent walking and then resting without dreams.

When dawn came, the dark-haired man rose and dressed as usual, donning a navy shirt with long sleeves and a pair of loose black pants. He was tugging on a pair of slippers when the owner of the estate popped his head in the door of the room Itachi had slept in, inquiring cheerfully if Itachi would like to join him for breakfast. The offer was accepted as the Uchiha finished slipping into the blue slippers, and the silver-haired head disappeared around the corner from whence it came.

He should have noticed it when he left the room to see the sun come over the rooftops. That the morning was particularly quiet--like the calm before the storm. He didn't know it as he walked outside to sit at the base of a tree, but he would forever rue not being more aware of his surroundings.

Itachi was sitting with his fingers laced together peacefully and his back against the bark of a tree when it happened.

He hadn't planned much for the day beyond breakfast with Kakashi, so he supposed being abducted from where he sat by an abnormally large brown dragon wasn't going to interfere with anything in particular.

It took an instant for the original genius prodigy of the Uchiha clan to adjust to the swiftly moving current of air against his face and he couldn't completely squash the violent ingrained urge to throw himself into an attack or at least some kind of defense against whatever had caught him in a strangely warm grip.

Itachi's brain instantly kicked into overdrive and analyzed the situation as rapidly as possible. He'd trained his mind uniquely for situations that had somehow caught him off guard. Very suddenly he was aware of all the differences around him. The paws that held him were quite large and thickly padded. Itachi noted with a hint of cold amusement that he could've very well been killed by being _stepped on_ by whatever had him. They were moving quickly--him and whatever had abducted him--but he wasn't being harmed beyond being removed from an otherwise very comfortable place in the sun. Also they weren't going off at an upwards angle but instead were going straight skywards, possibly to climb back above the clouds from whence the creature had come and out of sight. Whatever had him was propelling them into the air with powerful thrusts of its long body, slithering through the sky like a snake would through grass. Its scales were a deep earthy color and Itachi could see multiple white spines protruding from the creature's back and tail. It was noteworthy that the dragon carrying him, for Itachi could conclude that it was indeed some species of dragon, had six limbs instead of the expected four. With his mind factoring all the clues together as quickly as only he could, two whole seconds passed between the time he was swept from the ground and the time the identity of the beast came to him.

The eldest Uchiha failed to keep the surprise out of his voice as he intoned the name of the beast. ".....Taro?"

As they passed into a layer of cloud far beyond natural human sight, Itachi was rewarded with a cry like thunder.

It was tinged with.... agreement? Itachi observed with amusement, chancing a glance at the clouds below and wondering if anyone in Konoha had witnessed the snatching or heard the monstrous call.

Not likely, considering HE hadn't seen or heard it coming.

As he was carried off into the sky he reconsidered, realizing that, at the least, **Kakashi** would know something was wrong if only because Itachi wouldn't show up later on for breakfast as he'd said he would.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

_It wasn't the sight of her dying on that strange pale-skinned boy's hands that wrought absolute horror on his heart but rather the last sound that escaped from her throat as her killer clenched her innards and gave a cruel, sharp twist. _

_"__**Aaaaaaaaah!!!**__"_

_"TAYUYA!"_

_Righteous rage had him dashing at an enemy that was not only superior in every way but obviously so before sense and reason in the form of his other teammate took his shoulder with a firm grip. The white-haired boy's words were raspy and his usually emotionless face was tensed in a way Zaku had never seen it before. _

_"Leave her, she's finished." _

_"What the __**fuck**__ are you talking about? We can't leave her, she's our--"_

_A hand reached out through his chest up to the elbow and plucked Kimimaro's grip off. Zaku's eye twitched once as blood climbed up through his throat before he was plucked off the limb that had impaled him. The last thing he remembered was his name shouted into the night and then a swirl of sand. _

_Kimimaro watched as the sand pressed down in the same manor it had finished Tayuya. Heat had risen to his cheeks and his vision was starting to blur. "You."_

_Gaara watched the sand sweep back to him. It was the color of rust from having absorbed very nearly the entirety of two people's blood. _

_"You killed my friends."_

_The reply was slow, as though repeating the words was giving him trouble. "She's your..."_

_"She was. So was he. They..."_

_His hands turned palm-down. The flesh separated and slid apart so sharp bone could penetrate. The needle-like daggers that extended from his hands sliced silently through the air and came to point toward their target. _

_Jade-yellow eyes blinked once, interested but largely unimpressed. _

_"They were. My precious people... my friends." The expressionlessness cracked and Gaara recognized quiet rage. "I won't forgive you."_

_Gaara snorted and tilted his head. "I don't think that matters much. Those words...." he flexed his hand as his opponent rushed him, "....you'd say them again, if you could."_

_Several cracks resounded in the darkness but there was never a scream. Gaara was slightly impressed now. He cocked his head and caused several more cracks to echo in the vicinity, though again there was no cry of pain. He noded and took that jaw in one hand, lifting the other boy effortlessly from the heap he'd been reduced to moments ago. It's hard to stand with both your legs broken, he knows. _

_"You would say them again, if you could. I'm not sure I want to hear them anymore."_

_There was a short, sick ripping sound and the redhead gave a half-hearted kick that sent the bone-weilding boy not into but _through_ several trees._

_Gaara held the strange organ in his palm with an eerie scientific curiosity, as though he'd never seen a tongue in his life. It was still luke-warm, throbbed once, twice, and then proceeded to bleed itself out onto the pale demi-demon's palm. Its former owner panted heavily as he struggled to sit upright, a hand to his own mouth. It hardly served as a dam for the red flood behind thin lips. The red head pressed against the foreign organ with a finger, his ears twitching in amusement, prodding it and producing more red droplets. The organ finally failed to produce more blood and Gaara then looked up to the bone-weilding boy rushing for him. It was finally impressive, considering both his legs had been broken and his tongue had been ripped out, but hardly exciting._

_The sand rose up and the bone-boy fell down, as all his opponents did, down into the sand, never to get up again. _

_Another kind of crunch resounded in the darkness. _

"...and then I came along?"

"And then you came along," Gaara agreed, his gaze cast out over the expanse of the world visible from the top of the tree he lounged in, "and I was combing their filth from the sand."

Naruto scurried up the same branch, causing the limb to groan a bit under their combined weight.

"Oi," Gaara warned. The blonde made a face but descended a branch lower. The groan silenced and Naruto nodded his head side to side.

"Do you think about them?"

"Once. I squished a rather large raccoon recently and its fur and blood ruined my sand. I was combing it out and thought of them."

"Huh."

Naruto continued to tilt his head back and forth. Gaara had to stop himself from joining along but felt his head begin to pull in one direction of its own will.

"Cut that out."

"Heh heh heh!" The blonde stopped but proceeded to grin.

Gaara didn't really mind.

"How long do you think it'll take for them to get here?"

A hand trailed idly down his chest as he spoke. The touch was too gentle and suddenly the hand was snatched up in his own. With a tug, the red head brought the hand's owner chest to chest with him on the warm sand. No answer greeted the slightly annoyed jade pools except for that Naruto's blonde eyebrows hiked up an inch or so in surprise. He planted his free hand in the sand beside Gaara's cheek and grinned cheekily.

"When?..... _hmm_....."

The hand rose up out of the sand to cares Gaara's cheek tauntingly, the boy below him turning into the touch and then soft lips dipping slightly into a pout as the smooth skin pulled away again. Then the sand caught it and held Naruto captive over him, though Naruto could've argued that Gaara was captive beneath him, they both really knew that no one was anyone's captive.

Naruto sat up straighter a bit, throwing one leg over the boy's steel-hard stomach to straddle his midsection and leered down at his partner. "**Hmmm**....." Gaara's grip on his hand and the sand's grip around his other tightened ever-so-slightly and the pout deepened. The blonde laughed and tilted his head, pretending to consider the proper estimate of time with which to reply. He pretended to think with a silent look of actual thoughtfulness until the sand loosened a bit; then he cocked his head the other way and simply grinned.

The red head, denied a response too long, leaned up, annoyed, to plunder Naruto's mouth, very determined to drag the answer out.

Naruto made a noise of subdued laughter before there was a tongue around his tongue, and then, it was pretty hard to make any identifiable noise other than pleased.

Eyes shut and hands moved. The sand was warm beneath them and Naruto kissed Gaara back to the ground. Their tongues danced devilishly and then the world was inverted, and it was grainy and warm against Naruto's back now. The sun joined their play as the clouds drift in and out lazily above, leaving warm kisses along both boys as it shined down evenly over everything. Knees in the sand on either side of Naruto's body, Gaara proceeded to kiss and caress the boy beneath him. There wasn't any hunger or heat behind the kisses, though, just a slight impatience. Gaara's hands moved over Naruto's skin and pressed gently into him, pushing, searching. Naruto responded accordingly, even giving a slight sigh when Gaara's hands stroked a particular way down his chest and over his shoulders and stomach. He felt himself curl up beneath Gaara, deliriously happily, withdrawing into his center best he could with his partner straddling his middle. The redhead let up, leaning back to get up and allowing the other boy to draw into himself instinctively. Once balled up, Naruto wiggled in the sand to get more comfortable. Moments later he felt the pale boy's palms on his back, moving in soothing circles and spirals down his skin. The jade-eyed boy wasn't surprised when he felt the warm cavity beneath his open palms vibrate in content.

"....maybe a few minutes," came the reply as Gaara stroked his smooth golden peach skin, warm palms never stopping even after the answer came.

"Aa." The hands slowed and began to spiral the opposite direction.

Naruto purred, and exhaled slowly.

And suddenly the ground shook because Taro was landing. Gaara gave Naruto a look.

It was not a happy look.

"Ah. A few minutes," Naruto clarified as a twitch developed at the corner of Gaara's jade-yellow eyes, "was the answer a few minutes ago, so I didn't lie. You just didn't ask the right question!"

Logic didn't stop Gaara from tackling the other boy.

Itachi watched in undisguised amusement as the two rolled on the grass, the sand following them playfully as they tumbled about, Gaara eventually ending up on top of a laughing blonde boy with bright blue and purple-hued eyes that laughed at him, too. And then the red head was half-snarling and fingers danced and Naruto howled in laughter, unable to take the tickling, calling out that it wasn't fair that Gaara got the sand to hold him down. The Uchiha thought he heard something grumpily muttered from the red head but the tickling let up even if the sand didn't. And Naruto was still laughing when Gaara leaned down to kiss him.

The large paws settled into the ground and the snout came up beside the Uchiha, and he rested an open palm on it. The scales beneath his hand quivered a moment, adjusting to the flesh, and then the entire head moved forwards, brushing against Itachi gently.

_'Welcome back'_.

An eyebrow rose but the Uchiha, ever polite, replied anyway.

"....it's good to be here." _Again_.

Itachi said nothing of the sudden coming and going, knowing full well the power of the two innocently harmless looking boys before him. Despite having lived to know them the longest of perhaps anybody Uchiha Itachi wisely chose to take no chances to test the boundaries of his strange relationship to the demi-demons.

"Aaah, ah! Gaara--mmmph, Gaara, s-s-stop! 'Tachi-nii-chan's here!"

The red head let up, releasing the struggling blonde from beneath him as he regarded the Uchiha with a curiously blank stare. Itachi returned it for a moment and then turned to greet Naruto with a nod.

"Oi, oi, Itachi," Naruto said, waving him over, "C'mere."

The Uchiha did so, if only to satisfy his curiosity about why he'd been brought back, and in doing so unknowingly asked for his own undoing.

Ninjas were _**not**_ curious.

"We forgot to ask you before you went, 'Tachi-nii," Naruto bubbled as Itachi finally joined the two boys.

"Ask me what, Naruto?"

Gaara and Naruto looked at each other, then gave Itachi their most serious, innocent, curious expressions.

"How do you make babies?"

Silence.

The two half-demons stared at the Uchiha with expectant eyes, waiting for his reply.

Behind them Taro blinked its own very large, very round eyes as though it, too, was interested in Itachi's reply.

At first, the Uchiha wasn't certain how best to proceed. Certainly the boys had gone far enough into their exploration as to have figured out that answer themselves? What were they planning, asking him? The strange task of having to explain the process of human reproduction to Naruto and Gaara seemed so abstract that the Uchiha prodigy, flawless in all skills observational and otherwise, actually paused to take a moment and confirm what he'd heard.

"You want to make babies," Itachi monotoned.

At this, the two demi-demons cocked their heads.

Naruto made a face.

"Well of COURSE we don't want to make _**babies**_," he said, as if Itachi had suggested something gruesome beyond mortal comprehension, "They're HUMAN-things."

Gaara shook his head in agreement.

"You want to know _how_ to make babies," Itachi corrected himself, trying and failing to wrap his mind around the idea.

Gaara's mouth twitched. ".....you know how, don't you?"

"I know how," the elder Uchiha clarified, shaking his head, "....you want to know how make babies."

Still failing.

There was something about this that struck Itachi oddly. He'd been abducted because the two were curious about reproduction?

"Yeah," Naruto replied, rolling onto his back and staring up at the Uchiha like a kitten waiting for a toy to be presented for his enjoyment. "Tell us how."

Itachi was silent for a moment, his mind racing to discover some hidden question within the demand, then deflated a bit as he realized the best solution to the situation.

"Look at my eyes."

The boys complied, and suddenly the world was twisted and turning and then they were tumbling into a very unique version of the infamous world of Tsukiyomi.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

It was an instant romance.

He always lost himself, and at once, each and every time. There was little resistance, for who could resist the temptation?

Endless.

Gaara found himself somewhat nostalgic, looking up at the skies. Itachi had answered their questions and Taro had been happy to occupy the Uchiha's time while Naruto and Gaara went their own ways to mull over what they'd been told (or rather, shown). There was something small and delicate tugging at his heart now. Memories of himself alone standing on hot sand with his neck craned and jaw slack and big eyes broad as they could go. There was something untouchable back then and it was back again. Bright jade eyes were stretched wide, hoping to take in the entire sight at once, no matter how many futile attempts in the past discouraged him. He would try and try and try again. Leaning back and breathing out, Gaara breathed in the sight of the sky.

There was something instinctively attractive about that limitless blue expanse.

An instant romance that he couldn't refuse.

"It's so blue."

The words were breathy, for the air was tight this high up in the tops of the trees, or what was left of the trees anyway.

Today the skies were clearer than any time he could recall. There was no white to lure his eyes to drift hither and thither, only blue. That strange, strong sensation pulling his eyes and his heart and his thoughts straight to the sky.

So blue.

Only blue.

Gaara breathed in and let a small smile cross his lips, high up and lost in his own thoughts where no one could see.

Yes. This was the blue. The blue of the sky.

It was the same endless blue that had captured his heart in the eyes of a boy.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

They often stood side-by-side. Naruto was just as tall as Gaara if you didn't count his blonde sea-urchin spiked locks. Standing side by side, one could tell a lot about the person next to them. Their emotions often leaked through posture, body temperature, stance, etc. For two people that had spent the majority of their lives together, Naruto's body was easily a book to the red headed boy.

"You're worried."

The sunburst of bright yellow tilted to the side slightly as the demi-demon beneath it considered the statement.

"Maybe."

The flat line that was forever Gaara's expression-less expression twitched.

"Now you're lying."

"Probably."

It didn't matter what he was saying. Naruto's body spoke volumes over what he said. Beside him, Gaara's eyes slid sideways to glance at him.

"Lying is bad for you."

"That's a lie," Naruto countered, neither agreeing or disagreeing with the statement and not meeting the sidelong gaze directed at him. "I'm not worried."

"It rots your mind."

"Not my teeth?"

"Maybe just your tongue."

Naruto made a face. "Why would lying make my tongue rot?"

"I don't know," Gaara said with a shrug, "why would you think lying would rot your teeth?"

The blonde didn't reply and shifted his weight from one side to the other. Gaara could read Naruto. The red head knew that despite all placid and calm appearances annoyance and frustration was building up in his long-time partner. He could read the aggrivation with clarity. He could tell when the boy was joking or serious despite his demeanor and could tell hostile from harmless no matter what the boy beside him would attempt to portray. By Gaara's expert calculation, he was getting close to the breaking point.

"It's nothing?" A hint of curiosity colored his question.

"It's nothing." A touch of warning backed the response.

Gaara could read Naruto. And he'd come to the zenith of the other demi-demon's very limited tolerance. Just one more push, even a gentle one, would do it. He didn't stop the twitch at his mouth that pulled suspiciously in the direction of a smirk.

"Is that another lie?"

Naruto snarled and pounced.

About an hour later, as Gaara was peeling back the skin from his forearms to better re-attach the broken bone and muscle tissues, the blonde admitted it was a lie.

"Aa."

The bone was seeped in dark teal chakra and re-attached with a 'click'.

"I'm sorry."

With a flash of blue the skin on his other arm split open and with another wave of chakra the muscle tissue came free of the bone. A jade eye twitched once during the entire process--not at the grotesque sight of what his arm had been reduced to or the pain of having his muscles exposed to the air but at the sad puppy dog look that the person responsible for his state of ruin was donning.

"Don't be sorry," carefully, the chakra worked to repair the shredded muscle, flowing over the bright red tissues in waves of sharply contrasting aqua-blue, "you meant to fuck me up."

Naruto didn't deny that.

The muscle quivered before wrapping itself around the exposed bone again, quickly followed by a webbing of veins and finally the pale flesh layer. "I don't mind if you maul me." Teal rushed over the entire arm, energy hissing off the repaired limb, and Gaara gave it an experimental flex. "I like being mauled, on occasion." Satisfied that his fingers were responding to his mental commands again, Gaara fixed Naruto with a level look.

"But if you're going to maul me, do it properly. Without regret."

Purple eyes flickered red. "I don't like it when you say I'm lying."

"Don't lie."

Naruto rolled onto his stomach and then his back again and groaned. "Don't be so logical....!"

"Don't be so stupid?"

"Gaaaaaaaarrraaaaaa....."

Azure eyes blinked several times as the palms that he'd recently very nearly ripped in half reached out to rest on either cheek.

"Oh?"

Anything else Naruto was going to say (or whine, for that matter) was cut off my a pair of cool lips. And tongue.

Silence occupied the air as the dust, still settling, continued to drift about. For a mile around everything was either completely upturned, smashed in, scraped, severed, melted, and in some places small craters littered the demolished ground. Animals had long ago vacated the area. The only thing left in the vicinity of destruction was just that--destruction. Tree trunks thick around as a hippopotamus were snapped in half, shattered into splinters and fragments of wood, burned and still burning, uprooted, and several were marked with what would appear to be fang indents of some large canine creature. The ground and surrounding undergrowth had suffered similar similar fates. In places smoke was drifting up from where red and orange continued to eat away at wood and leaf alike. Blood was liberally splashed and dotted about the former battlefield in various locations, as was sweat. There were several structures of unnatural nature no doubt summoned by different techniques and then several smashed or exploded structures that had most likely been the result of being 'in the way' during the battle.

And in the very middle of it all despite the earthen carnage and destruction that surrounded them Naruto let out a mewl of pleasure as Gaara kissed him hungrily.

Lips pressed against lips pressed back against an invading tongue licked up the side of his cheeks flushing warm--someone's hand pressed to the ruined earth and they tumbled several times until Gaara was on his back and Naruto was kissing up his jawbone. The red head rumbled like thunder and ran a smooth palm against Naruto's inner thigh. Hyper-sensitive and flush with post-battle heat, the blonde all but purred and kissed the other boy's mouth hungrily. Long newly-healed fingers pressed and pawed at sensitive flesh.

The initial playful mewls of interest and snickering eventually dissolved into purrs of content and gentle groans, which later evolved to grunts and panting and plenty of meaningful moans, and finally degenerated back to silence and contented purring.

What was left of the forest echoed with tremors and smelt faintly of sex.

At the end of it all, Gaara rolled onto his stomach, propped his head up on one palm, and gave Naruto a questioning look.

"Do you imagine anyone will survive? That thing," he asked, "that we said we might do if we felt like it."

The blonde cocked his head in response and let the silliness of the question drag a smile out across his lips. "Of course not. It's us, remember." Then, Naruto blinked once or twice, recognized the buried proposition for what it was. He nearly sat up in excitement. "Do you feel like doing it?"

"....Yeah."

Naruto let a pleased rumble sound in his chest. Gaara, who had rolled over to lay on top of Naruto's back, shivered in response with a grin.

"Finally."

That it had been verbally agreed upon at last was significant. Neither moved for what must've been hours, letting the sensation of the wind across their bodies seep deep into their bones and being. It was a good night.

**..oo00oo..**

**..oo00oo..**

**End Chapter **

So I lied. This chapter wasn't the whirlwind of chaos that I predicted, but that's to come. I felt like there were things that needed to be said and written, here they are. I realize Konoha didn't make much of an appearance, but perhaps there's a reason for that? The next chapter should be what I've been waiting to do with all of this. Hopefully I'll hang on until the end. Thanks very much to everyone who's hung in there with me until even the last late late chapter.

Eh, I gotta run. Something's burning.


End file.
